


Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream

by Pvt_Winters



Series: Young Maiden's Chronicles [1]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen, Touhou PC-98 Era, Young Maiden's Chronicles, fan remake, westerner Marisa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-01-23 11:51:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 78
Words: 150,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12506776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pvt_Winters/pseuds/Pvt_Winters
Summary: After getting bullied by fairies at her home, Gensokyo's shrine maiden trainee, Hakurei Reimu tries to have her revenge against them for their acts. Using what she has learned as a trainee, Reimu sets out with the flying turtle, Genji, to hunt down those specific fairies. But she soon discover that her adventures doesn't just stop there...A fan remake of the PC-98 games.





	1. Young Maiden of Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fan remake of the entire series, so expect many things to be different from canon.  
> Touhou Project is a property of ZUN (real name: Ota Jun'Ya). Nobody but ZUN owns the series and any of its contents.
> 
> Warning: This fic is only available on Fanfiction Dot Net and Archive Of Our Own. If you find it anywhere else, let me know as soon as possible.
> 
> Update on 1st November 2018: Because I can no longer access Fanfiction Dot Net in Desktop (Mobile doesn't have a document editor, and the App's editor has too many bugs to be usable), the FF version of all my stories will be discontinued. Kindly repost this message in the Reviews section of my stories in FF so everyone else can get this message. See the notes on chapter 69 for more info.
> 
> Update on 4th of December 2018: I have regained access to Fanfiction Dot Net, so there's that. Updates will resume there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read the Fanfiction Dot Net version here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11827725/1/Young-Maiden-s-Chronicles-Spirit-Dream

Hi-yo! New writer here!

After seeing the stories my cousin has spent the past two years writing here, and the attention they've garnered, I've decided to join him here, and get into story-writing myself.

Who's my cousin, and what stories did he write, you ask?

Well, my cousin goes by the penname Lt Col Summers, and he's the writer of the  _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_  series. As far as his profile tells me, he also wrote stories for  _Metal Slug_ and _Team Fortress 2_. I'm not interested in either of those...

Here's what he didn't mention when he wrote  _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_  and  _Gensokyo Untold_ : the idea of the Council Of Sanctuaries and Neverland Convention were not entirely his ideas. Summers and I have had discussions on how to portray them the way he did (well technically, only mentioned in passing, with little plot significance as of now)

Anyhow, like I said before, my cousin's pseudo-career here is what made me want to take part in writing my own stories.

In this case, I'm not going the military route (I'm more of an anime guy) with this  _Touhou_  fic. Rather than creating tons of original contents, I'm going to use canon materials as the base of my stories.

In a sense, you can imagine this story I'm about to write as a sort of remake of  _Touhou_  according to how me and Summers would've envisioned.

Well, off to write some stories!

__Forewords ends here._ _

* * *

> _Magic..._
> 
> _The element of the supernatural..._
> 
> _Some says its a product of a sentient mind's dreams..._
> 
> _Others say its just unexplained science..._
> 
> _In truth, these statements are both correct and incorrect._
> 
> _Some form of magic stems from the dreams of a sentient spirit..._
> 
> _Some forms of it has its roots buried deep in implausible imaginations..._
> 
> _This is the story of an individual..._
> 
> _...Whose life was spent in a land of magic..._
> 
> _A land called Gensokyo..._
> 
> _This is her story..._
> 
> _A young maiden's chronicles..._

_..._

Somewhere in the land called Gensokyo, there is a Shinto shrine.

With no resident priests or shrine maidens taking care of it in the past months or so, the shrine's courtyard has been overtaken by withered leaves, as well as the occasional birds pecking around the piles of leaves for any signs of worms or caterpillars to feed on.

Then, something made the birds flap their wings and take to the air.

It was an individual. A girl about 14 years old, has purple hair tied into a ponytail with a red ribbon, and is wearing traditional Shinto shrine maiden clothing. She slowly climbed up the shrine steps, carrying in one hand some textbooks wrapped in silk cloth, and stopped just under the Torii gate.

**Young Maiden of Paradise**

**Hakurei Reimu**

"ホームよりよい場所がない." [There are no places better than home...] The girl, Reimu told herself with a smile.

Reimu then slowly walks toward the shrine. She took care to take off her shoes before stepping onto the shrine veranda, and putting down the sack of textbooks next to the shrine's donation box. The shrine maiden then turns back toward the shrine courtyard.

"中庭をきれいに掃除する必要があり、私は私が必要な残りの部分を持つことができます." [I should sweep the courtyard clean, and then I can have the rest I needed...] Reimu told herself.

She turned back toward the shrine and walked inside. One minute later, she came out with a broom in hand, as she begins sweeping the leaves on the courtyard into one pile. That being said, the courtyard is rather large, and every inch of its surface was covered in leaves.

...

As she wasn't really in a hurry, Reimu took her time with sweeping the courtyard, and five minutes later she is done with only a quarter of the courtyard.

She then pauses the sweeping to stretch her back. "どのように疲れる." [How exhausting...] She said. "私は迅速に行うこのを取得する必要があります." [I should get this done quickly...]

As that was said, something drew the shrine maiden's attention onto the foliage surrounding the shrine. It was the ruffling of a bush.

"だれです? か?" [Who's there?] Reimu called out to the foliage.

No response came...

"私はそれを想像していますか。" [Am I imagining it?] She wondered if such was the case.

Then another ruffling came, from the exact same bush.

Getting confused by the ruffling, Reimu slowly approached the bush while holding the broom with both of her hands.

As she neared the bush, Reimu extended one hand to push the bush aside and see what's causing a ruffling.

Almost instantly, something darted out of the bush at a very high speed, knocking Reimu down by socking her right in the face.

Groaning in pain, Reimu picked herself up from the ground as she massaged the part of her face that was socked.

"Ha Ha! You guys should've seen that look on her face when I socked her!" A childish voice announced from above the roof of the shrine.

From where she stood right now, Reimu sees that several more figures darted out from the foliage surrounding the shrine.

As she looked closer, the shrine maiden found that the one who socked her in the face was a fairy. There were several other fairies surrounding the first one, and they all appear to be hoisting Kedama - small fur-covered creatures with a weird facial expression that remains constant through their whole lifetime - in their hands.

Knowing the kind of personality fairies have, Reimu elected to clear her throat before she called out to the group...

"Hey!" The shrine maiden called out angrily. "What was that all about?!"

The fairies all turned their attention toward Reimu, stared at her for a few seconds before they all burst out laughing.

"Look, everyone!" The first fairy told the others. "She tried to be intimidating to us!"

"A normal human!" Another fairy chimed in.

Reimu became angrier at how the fairies treated her words. "Just you pipsqueaks wait, I'm coming after you!"

The shrine maiden couldn't even take one step forward as the fairies immediately tossed the Kedama in their hands at her, knocking her down once again. The petite fur-balls then hops all over Reimu, keeping her pinned to the ground.

The fairies laughed loudly as they watched Reimu being helplessly pinned to the ground by the herd of Kedama.

"Now that's what I call a furry-cious moment!" The first fairy said. "Okay, that's enough fun today. Let's get going!"

With that said, the fairies flew down and collected the herd of Kedama rampaging over Reimu, and quickly left the scene with some of them still chuckling at what had just happened.

Reimu laid where she was left at, feeling angry about being humiliated and, worst of all, bullied by fairies.

The shrine maiden slowly picked herself up from the ground and dusted herself clean, before...

...She snaps the broom in half with her bare hands alone, her anger having become fiery rage.

"Those fairies...! What they just did is something even nice girls will get very angry at!"

Reimu then storms back into the shrine's main building, and just a few seconds later, she came out holding a gohei in her hand.

"I am so going to show them what happens when they mess with the Hakurei shrine maiden!"

Reimu made her way toward the Torii gate, and stopped under it before turning back at the shrine.

"Genji!" The shrine maiden called out.

An unusually large turtle slowly trotted his way toward the shrine maiden from behind the shrine.

"Heh, getting bullied by fairies before your career officially begins..." The turtle, Genji, chuckled. "Just like your mother on her first day..."

"Leave your reminiscence for later!" Reimu told Genji. "We are going after those fairies!"

Genji let out another chuckle. "Same reaction as your mother..."

With a swift move, Reimu jumped onto Genji's back, standing well balance on her feet.

Genji let out a sigh this time, as he, by some truly supernatural means, flew up into the air, his movement mimicking that of an actual turtle's swimming motion.

"Life never changes... at least for me..." The turtle told himself.

With that, Genji took off toward the direction the fairies had escaped toward, all while Reimu remains balanced standing on his back.

* * *

Well, how about that? The intro of  _Highly Responsive To Prayers_  not recreated, but redesigned based on how me and my cousin would've remade  _Touhou_  if we've bought the license from ZUN.

As  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_  was supposed to be a (fan) remake of  _Touhou_ , expect more than 75% of the materials to be slightly or heavily altered - whichever comes first - as you read on. I'll try to list everything in  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_  that are altered from the original canon, starting with the intro of HRTP.

The intro - In the original HRTP, its Reimu swearing to seek out and punish whoever wrecked her shrine while she was (implied to be) away from it when it was wrecked; Here, Reimu starts out getting bullied by fairies, and she tries to make them pay back.

Reimu herself - In the original HRTP, she's stated to be an 11 years old preteen; here, she's a 14 years old teenager who, judging by the sack of textbooks, could be a high school girl.

Finally, some of you might notice my cousin's habit of putting references to other works almost all the time in his works, and then listing them down in the Afterwords section, or just skips the listing if there aren't any references in the chapter to begin with. Well, while I'll be putting as many references as I can in my works, I'm not going to list the references, so you'll have to seek out the references yourselves.

And that, as they say, is that.

__Afterwords ends here._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, I just copy-and-pasted this directly from my Fanfiction Dot Net account. So expect everything to be exactly the same here as in FF.


	2. The Chronicle Begins

Were you anticipating for a continuation of this fan remake?

Fear not, as I will keep updating the story for as long as I have internet or is alive.

Do check out Lt Colonel Summers' stories as well. He's technically my co-writer in  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_ , after all.

__Forewords ends here..._ _

* * *

****Fairy Forest, Outskirts of Gensokyo.** **

As fairies are the embodiment of nature's elements, it would make sense for them to live in places far from human settlements. In these places, fairies would often play games with each other, or pull pranks on any humans that do wander into their self-declared territory.

Not this time, though.

Rather than going about with their usual antics, the fairies this time were flying in formation, peppering an approaching enemy with all the pebbles and Kedama they could find. Some of the fairies even tried to swarm the enemy with sheer overwhelming numbers.

None of those would work when the enemy in question is Hakurei Reimu, actually taking the fairies seriously.

The Young Maiden Of Paradise used her gohei to channel some of her magic into a barrage of magical projectiles known as danmaku, which she proceeds to launch at the mob of fairies and their Kedama companions.

Being hit by danmaku once is all it takes to defeat the fairies and Kedama. Both parties drops on the ground out cold upon being hit.

"And that is what you dimwits get for messing with the Hakurei shrine maiden!" Reimu delivers a taunt at the fairies.

Genji, who Reimu is riding on, looked at the Young Maiden Of Paradise and said, "There is no need for intimidation, Reimu..."

Reimu turned her attention on the flying turtle and responded, "Times have changed, Genji. You need to intimidate your enemies to be able to win battles..."

More fairies darted out of the surrounding foliage and ambushed Reimu. Some are carrying Kedama in their hands.

"Great, they just keep on coming..." Reimu complained. "You better not fail me, Genji."

...

Deeper within the Fairy Forest, the same fairy that led the assault on the Hakurei Shrine half-flew, half ran down the forest's single dirt path that appeared to have been made only days ago, as she approached someone who is enveloped in shadows standing at the far side of it.

The fairy stopped before the mysterious individual to catch her breath for a while. After she's done catching her breath, she told the mysterious individual with an agitated tone, "My friends and I drew the shrine maiden here as you've instructed, but now she's rampaging through the forest, kicking the butts of everyone she comes across!"

The mysterious individual simply nodded in response, followed by a calmly-spoken "Just as expected..."

"Just as expected?!" The fairy became angry upon hearing that. "She's coming straight..."

The mysterious individual interrupted the fairy. "Then throw everything you and your fellow fairies have at her. I want to see how well she fights..."

The fairy stammered in anguish for a while, before turning around and flew back toward the direction she came from earlier.

The mysterious individual watched the fairy leaving the scene, and then stepped out of the shadows that enveloped her. She turned out to be a woman with red eyes, black hair, a red ribbon in the hair and wields a large sword (currently stored in its sheath which is strapped to her back), as well as wearing red robes with white trim and grey sleeves. There also appears to be a single horn on her forehead.

****The Astral Knight** **

****Konngara** **

"I do believe that the Hakurei shrine maiden is suited for whatever lies ahead of her journey..." The woman, Konngara, told herself as she stared at the direction the fairy just took off to.

...

Even with sheer overwhelming numbers, the fairies and their domesticated Kedama were no match for the purple-haired force of domination that is Hakurei Reimu. Every fairy and Kedama that approached her were quickly taken out by the danmaku she lashes out.

A fairy tried to pounce on Reimu on behind, only for the shrine maiden to whack that fairy in the face with her gohei... without turning toward the fairy. This fairy instantly drops onto the ground unconscious.

"I see that you have been training quite well, Reimu..." Genji remarked at how the shrine maiden was handling all the fairies without breaking a sweat.

"Because you'll never know when you're ever going to come across something much worse..." Reimu quipped as she wipe sweat off her forehead. "Always be prepared..."

The shrine maiden is immediately interrupted when something flew down from above the canopy of the forest: a fairy that's taller and has a wingspan larger than the others, and is holding a flower-shaped scepter in her hands.

This new arrival - a Flower Fairy - didn't allow Reimu or Genji to say anything as she immediately begins her attack by firing several boulder-sized danmaku in a spread-out pattern at the shrine maiden.

Genji acted according and carefully maneuvered over the large danmaku barrage so that Reimu doesn't get hit. "Be careful, lady." The flying turtle said.

Reimu was able to maintain her balance when Genji performed the evasive maneuver. "Thanks, Genji. I almost got hit just now." The shrine maiden then turns her attention onto the Flower Fairy. "Now to knock down this one..."

She retaliates by firing another set of danmaku at the Flower Fairy.

The Flower Fairy took several danmaku straight on including one right in the face. But unlike the lesser fairies, the Flower Fairy is still in fighting condition despite the hits.

"Looks like this will be a tough one..." Reimu noted how resilient to attacks the Flower Fairy is.

The Flower Fairy repeats her previous attack, firing another set of boulder-sized danmaku in a spread out pattern.

Reimu manages to dodge this barrage by getting down, letting the boulder-sized danmaku fly over her.

"I guess its time to raise the firepower a little bit." The shrine maiden said, as she produced a handful of Ofuda from out of thin air.

Genji took note of what Reimu is planning. "I hope you know how to use those, young lady..."

"I was hoping that was the case..." The shrine maiden replied with a lack of confidence, and then threw all the Ofuda at the direction of the Flower Fairy.

Two of the Ofuda flew off-course and blew up the surrounding foliage, whilst the third was fired upon by the Flower Fairy to no avail before it blew up in her face, sending her barreling across the forest ground. There's no doubt that the Flower Fairy is knocked out.

"Not too shabby, I see..." Genji remarked.

Reimu scratched her head before saying, "True, but that accuracy is something a full-fledged Hakurei shrine maiden shouldn't have."

"Your mother also said that during her trainee days..." Genji added.

Reimu gave Genji a dismissive poke to the back of the flying turtle's head, and told him, "Stop comparing me to my mother, please?"

Genji simply responded with a soft chuckle, followed by "As you wish, girl..."

...

After making sure that there are no more fairies hiding in the surrounding foliage (the two off-course Ofuda from earlier helped confirm this), Reimu traversed deeper into the Fairy Forest with Genji under her feet serving as a mount.

But then something made Reimu go on alert, as she signaled Genji to stop proceeding forward.

"Genji, can you sense anything strange right now?" Reimu asked the flying turtle.

Genji looked down the path in front, then back at the shrine maiden, and said, "Indeed, there is something strange about this part of the forest..."

Reimu tightened her grip on her gohei. "This is supposed to be a forest of fairies, yet one of these auras does not belong to a fairy."

"This aura, I can tell, is much older than the forest itself." Genji noted. "It is most definitely not a small fry in any way..."

"Now the only question is: where is this different aura coming from?" Reimu wondered, as she looked around the forest for anything that seemed out of place.

It is then that Reimu and Genji both noticed a mid-sized orb that is emitting a supernatural glow slowly descending toward the forest ground from above the canopy.

"Perhaps that may be what you are looking for..." Genji told Reimu about it.

"I think it is, because this... thing most definitely doesn't belong here." Reimu said, tightening her grip on her gohei even further.

The glowing orb ceased its descend at about a meter above the ground, after which it also ceased emitting the supernatural glow, revealing itself to be something that resembled a red-white Ying-Yang Orb with veins-like markings of an even deeper shade of red over its surface.

For now, the object remained completely motionless aside from its slowly rotating around an axis.

"What... Is... That?" Reimu wondered.

Genji looked at the object for a few seconds, before declaring, "It seemed familiar, but I can't recall where or when have I last seen it..."

The orb continued to remain where it is, doing nothing other than rotating around an axis.

Reimu waited for another minute before making her decision. "Well, then. If it isn't doing anything, maybe we can just ignore it and mo..."

But before the shrine maiden can finish her sentence, the orb suddenly performed an action, in which it emitted a faint red glow before lashing out a single continuous beam of light toward the direction of Reimu.

Reimu manages to dodge the beam by leaning toward the side. A split second slower and she would've taken a direct hit. "And... maybe not."

The orb maintains its faint red glow, and started moving all over the forest, making it hard for Reimu to keep track of its position.

****Ancient Formless Guardian** **

****Shingyoku** **

"Now I remember..." Genji told the shrine maiden. "This orb is an Ancient Formless Guardian known as Shingyoku. Your mother had never encountered it in battle, but one of your ancestors did back in my younger days."

"One of my ancestors fought this thing?" Reimu asked with surprise.

"That is correct. Last time I saw Shingyoku, it was taking commands from a powerful hermit." Genji explained to the shrine maiden. "But why would it be here today, and who is it working for this time...?"

"Doesn't matter why or who..." Reimu gets herself prepared for a large scale battle. "Here it comes!"

The orb - Shingyoku continues its attack on the shrine maiden, whilst flanking around her at high speeds to make a counterattack difficult.

* * *

And thus begins the adventure of our intrepid shrine maiden trainee, Hakurei Reimu, as she face her first boss battle in the form of Shingyoku.

Just so you know, I'll be limiting the chapters' lengths to about 1500 to 2000 words, as I've only just begun writing stories here. Once I'm done remaking all the PC-98 games, I can then start coordinating with Lt Col Summers to begin work on remaking the Windows games, where each chapter will be longer. After all, Summers also started out limiting the length of each chapter of  _ _Fantasy Blitzkrieg__  to about 1000 words before switching over to making them longer than 3000 at least.

As remakes always have differences from the original work, I'll be listing them down in each chapter of  _ _Young Maiden's Chronicles__  so you don't confuse this fan work with the canon games.

Konngara's screen time - In  _ _Highly Responsive To Prayers__ , Konngara doesn't even appear until the boss battle with her. In here, she appeared right at the beginning as the woman-behind-the-women before retreating back into the shadows.

The fairies' intellect - In every canon  _ _Touhou__  work, fairies are established to be a bunch of eggheads that usually can't think of anything other than pulling pranks and playing. Here, although they don't appear to be any smarter than original, the fact that they are able to domesticate the common Kedama to work for them is something of an achievement for these eggheads.

Shingyoku - In  _ _HRTP__ , Shingyoku's title is simply "Gatekeeper", and it can make itself appear as a male or female humanoid. Here, Shingyoku's title is upgraded to "Ancient Formless Guardian", but it doesn't have the ability to take on humanoid appearances.

That should be all the changes from canon to be noted in this chapter. And if you guys are waiting for me to name the shout-outs I may be including, then sorry. Unlike my cousin, I'm not going to name any shout-outs in the stories that are published under my penname.

And that, as they say, is that...

__Afterwords ends here._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, I noticed that unlike Fanfiction Dot Net, Archive Of Our Own permits inserting images and hyperlinks into your story. So I'm going to take advantage of that by inserting images and links here and there for references.


	3. Ancient Formless Guardian

Sorry about the delay, its just that Lt Colonel Summers and I are using the same computer, and he usually has more things to do on the internet than I do.

You can trust me that I am not going to terminate this fan remake prematurely. I will see to it that it reaches the end. My cousin has also decided to take a break from writing his stories so he can help me with writing  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_. YMC is our co-production, after all...

I do believe this needs to be stressed further: this being a fan remake,  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_  will have many part of it deviate from  _Touhou_  canon. If you are the kind of guy who's unable to accept the slightest deviation from canon, you should stop reading this story and hit the "Back" button on your internet browser instead. Summers warned me of people who's extremely OCD about canon, and I hope you're not that kind of person...

__Forewords ends here._ _

* * *

****Fairy Forest, outskirts of Gensokyo.** **

It has only been a minute into the battle with Shingyoku, and already is Reimu getting fatigued from dodging all the attacks the Ancient Formless Gatekeeper threw at her.

"Take this easy..." The shrine maiden trainee told herself. "I just need to time my counterattacks with my evasion..."

Shingyoku then gets the jump on Reimu with another laser beam coming from straight ahead.

Reimu manages to dodge the beam by leaning out of the way. But in doing so, she leaned too much and fell off Genji's back, landing on the forest ground with a soft thud.

Genji notices Reimu falling onto the solid ground, and then goes to the shrine maiden trainee by making a soft landing next to her. "Are you alright, Reimu?" The flying turtle asked.

Reimu slowly picks herself up from the ground, and dusted herself clean of dirt and dead leaves before replying, "Yeah, I'm alright... But that thing won't be..." She points her gohei at Shingyoku.

Shingyoku fires a surprise beam at Reimu, this one whizzing right past her left shoulder.

Reimu proceeds to retaliate by firing a burst of danmaku at the Ancient Formless Guardian, whom easily dodges the shots thanks to being so small and nimble.

"Reimu, you should know that aerial combatants always have the upper hand against grounded ones..." Genji said while remaining calm amidst the small-scale crossfire.

"I know..." Reimu replies without putting her attention away from Shingyoku as she continued firing danmaku at it. "But that thing seems to be actively stopping me from getting the odds even again..." She crouches down to dodge a laser beam that was coming straight toward her.

Hearing the shrine maiden trainee saying so, Genji looked at Shingyoku and mumbled under his breath "Who are you working for now..."

After dodging two laser beams that are fired at her consecutively, Reimu stood up and quickly fired a burst of danmaku at Shingyoku. This time, she manages to land two hits on the Ancient Formless Guardian.

Shingyoku seemed to tremble in response to taking those two hits.

"Is that it?" Reimu wondered what might be happening.

Genji turned toward the shrine maiden trainee and told her, "I am not sure what is happening myself, but two hits most definitely isn't enough to put down this Guardian..."

Shingyoku is still hovering at where it was, and is still trembling.

"Then what is it doing?" Reimu became even more confused with the current situation.

Before an answer can be made, Shingyoku suddenly charged toward Reimu at a high speed. Caught by surprise, the shrine maiden trainee took the bulldoze attack right in her face and tumbled heels-over-head backwards.

Reimu picked herself up from the ground a second time. She didn't bother dusting herself clean this time, as she is now very furious. "Those fairies back there are annoying when they all attack at once. But this... Ancient Formless Guardian is so much more annoying than all of them combined!" Saying that, Reimu grabbed a handful of Ofuda from thin air with her right hand, and switched to holding her gohei with her left hand. "I don't care why it is in cahoots with the fairies, I'm going to exorcise it at any cost!"

Genji just sighed as he moved himself into the foliage as fast as his wrinkled turtle feet can take him. "Good luck with that, youngling..."

After that, Reimu turned to face Shingyoku, who had also turned around and charged toward the shrine maiden trainee in a bulldoze attack.

...

Deeper within the Fairy Forest, Konngara sat herself on top of a small boulder as she watched Reimu's duel with Shingyoku through a magical midair slit she spawned with a slash of her sword.

"It appears that the newest Hakurei shrine maiden is not as well trained as the previous ones I've came across..." The Astral Knight said. "But for someone who is still a trainee, she was doing quite well against Shingyoku..."

Konngara then turns around to face another mysterious individual that was standing behind her.

"For that, I am quite impressed with little Hakurei Reimu. But are you?" The Astral Knight directed the remaining half of her sentence at the mysterious individual.

Even while enveloped by the shadows, one could still see that the mysterious individual nodded in response.

"I see." Konngara acknowledged the mysterious individual's response, as she dismisses the magical midair slit by gently poking it with her sword. "Anything else you want to add?" She directed another question.

The mysterious individual remained silent, making no physical response to the question being asked.

"Very well..." Konngara told the mysterious individual. "The shrine maiden trainee may still be very far, but get prepared just in case..."

...

This time, knowing what to expect, Reimu easily dodged Shingyoku's bulldoze attack, and proceeds to retaliate by throwing an Ofuda at it.

The Ofuda missed the Ancient Formless Guardian by a large margin, and exploded a shrub instead.

"Godsdammit!" Reimu cursed in response to the failed attack.

Genji turned toward the shrine maiden trainee with the wide-eyed look. "Reimu, since when did you learn to utter expletives...?"

Reimu didn't bother turning toward the old turtle as she tells him, "Not now, Genji, not freaking now."

Seeing Shingyoku charging straight toward her once again, Reimu positioned herself and threw an Ofuda straight at the Ancient Formless Guardian.

This time, the Ofuda made direct contact with Shingyoku, and exploded in a large cloud of smoke.

"Ha! Take that!" Reimu took the opportunity to taunt...

...Only for the Ancient Formless Guardian to suddenly emerge from the cloud of smoke, maintaining its previous speed and trajectory.

"What the...?!" Reimu exclaimed in surprise, and has her exclamation cut short by Shingyoku knocking her down via taking a bulldoze attack to the face (again).

The shrine maiden trainee picked herself up from the ground (again) and shook her head to soften up the slight concussion.

"I know this is obvious, but I'll still point it out..." Reimu said angrily. "I. Am. Very. Very. ANGRY!"

After making her emphasis, Reimu turned to face the direction Shingyoku is currently at, and performed the daring motion, as if taunting the Ancient Formless Guardian.

As Shingyoku is technically just a living magical orb with no faces to speak of, and a (possibly) limited amount of intelligence, it is difficult if not impossible to tell how it reacted to the shrine maiden trainee's daring taunt. But nevertheless, it responded by charging toward Reimu in yet another attempt to bulldoze through her. Only this time its done at twice the speed, with the potential of greater damage being dealt.

Reimu waited until Shingyoku was just a few meters in front of her. Then, with the quickest possible reflex she could muster, the shrine maiden trainee swung her gohei at the Ancient Formless Guardian.

A bright light is emitted from where Shingyoku made contact with Reimu's gohei, as Reimu tries her best to hold off the Ancient Formless Guardian's bulldoze attack.

"You... Shall... Not... Pass!" Reimu managed to throw in a line, before she grabs hold of an Ofuda with her free hand, and shoves it straight toward Shingyoku.

The bright light faded instantly, and Reimu staggered backwards as the Ofuda adhered to Shingyoku's surface. The Ancient Formless Guardian shook violently in midair as the Ofuda begins to glow brighter and brighter...

...Until it went off in a very bright light-based explosion that produced no smoke whatsoever.

The light fades away after five seconds. Shingyoku remained stationary where it was for another five seconds, before it fell onto the ground, becoming as limp as an ordinary ball.

"Did I get it this time?" Reimu wondered, unsure whether she has just defeated the Ancient Formless Guardian. "Only one way to find out..."

With that said, the shrine maiden trainee approached Shingyoku slowly, and poked it with her gohei. Genji also emerged from the foliage he excused himself to, and watched the same thing.

The Ancient Formless Guardian made no response, as all the poking did to it was nudging it slightly. If magical orbs can also fall unconscious, then that must be the case for Shingyoku right now.

"Thank the gods, I've beat this thing..." Reimu said in a complaining manner as she kicked the inert Shingyoku aside. "I never expected my very first challenge to be so tough..."

Genji let out another chuckle. "Heh, complaining about their first challenge... A trait shared by all Hakurei shrine maidens..." The old turtle then trailed off. "But sprouting expletives... Last time I've heard a Hakurei doing that was... two hundred years ago, beginning at a similarly young age, even..."

Reimu became mildly annoyed by Genji. The shrine maiden trainee sighed and then face-palmed. "Just... how much of your past years are worth recalling?"

* * *

Well, I've posted up another chapter to  _ _Young Maiden's Chronicles__ , this time wrapping up Reimu's duel with Shingyoku, with assistance from my cousin - Lt Colonel Summers.

And that's it. I got nothing else to add to this Afterwords section. Summers wanted to add something else right here, but I told him that whatever he wants to say should be said in his Profile instead.

Here's a list of modified canons in this chapter:

Konngara's mysterious partner - Although absolutely nothing about her is mentioned in this chapter, anyone who had beaten  _ _Highly Responsive To Prayers__  multiple times and saw all of its possible endings will be able to tell that the only possible candidate to the mysterious individual's identity is Sariel, The Angel Of Death. In the original canon, Konngara and Sariel are encountered in different paths, so you can never face them both in the same playthrough.

Reimu sprouting expletives - I honestly don't think this count, but I'm putting it here in case one of you insists. The only expletive to have ever been spoken in  _ _Touhou__  canon is Marisa's "Bitch get out of the way!" or something like that in  _ _Imperishable Nights__ , which gets repeated in an ironic way by Alice in  _ _Subterranean Animism__.

One last stressing before I close off this chapter's Afterwords section: I am not going to list all the references I've placed in my stories, so get used to it.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

__Afterwords ends here._ _


	4. Youngsters These Days

I still have a long way to go before me and Lt Col Summers finishes remaking the PC-98 games and begin work on the Windows games, so you'll have to wait for a while until then.

Additionally, this fan remake may alter some of the canon characters' personalities in some way. And since both Summers and I sucked at writing personalities, dialogues will be a bit prone to being out-of-character.

That is all I need to say.

__Forewords ends here._ _

* * *

****Fairy Forest, Outskirts of Gensokyo.** **

It shouldn't come as a surprise that in the Fairy Forest, fairies will always show up to do their usual fairy business, even if a powerful being like an Ancient Formless Guardian was just here mere minutes ago.

Reimu knew she should have seen that coming, as the shrine maiden trainee encountered another mob of fairies right after defeating Shingyoku in battle.

As a group of fairies lunged toward Reimu from all directions, the shrine maiden trainee dodged the mob attack by simply crouching, causing the fairies to smack into each other head on - pun intended - and knock themselves out cold.

More fairies appeared in front of Reimu. These ones are carrying Kedama, which they then toss at her with all their might.

Reimu quickly shoots down all those Kedama with a series of danmaku, and then proceeds to do the same with the fairies.

"They just keep on coming and coming..." Reimu complained.

"Still, this is somewhat easier compared to what I've seen in the past..." Genji told the shrine maiden trainee.

A Sunflower Fairy suddenly appears from behind Reimu and fires a surprise barrage of boulder-sized danmaku at her.

Having seen firsthand what a Sunflower Fairy is capable of, Reimu dodged the barrage by somersaulting over them, and then while still mid-somersault, threw a single Ofuda at the Sunflower Fairy.

The Ofuda exploded upon contact with the Sunflower Fairy, sending her barreling through the ground before she stopped several meters later, wherein she goes out cold.

Reimu then ends her somersault and lands. Although the shrine maiden trainee lost her footing and almost slipped off Genji's back.

"I do believe you need more training before attempting such a move, Reimu..." Genji told her.

Reimu repositioned herself on the flying turtle's back before replying, "Yeah, I know that..."

Another Sunflower Fairy suddenly appears right in front of Reimu and manages to whack the shrine maiden trainee on the head with her flower scepter.

"Ouch!" Reimu reacts to being whacked on the head, as she swings her gohei at the Sunflower Fairy in retaliation. "You little runt!"

The Sunflower Fairy dodges the melee attack by flying backwards, and proceeds to taunt Reimu by sticking her tongue out. She is then joined by several more regular fairies, some of which have Kedama hoisted above their heads.

Seeing all the fairies taunting her, Reimu let out an unsatisfactory grunt before responding to them, "Well, you pests were asking for it..."

...And proceeding to fire off a barrage of danmaku at them.

...

Deeper in the Fairy Forest, Konngara remained at the exact same spot she has been in for the past hours, waiting for something while having her arms folded.

No later than ten seconds later, a small piece of human-shaped paper cutout flew toward the Astral Knight, who extended her left hand to catch it between two fingers.

Konngara seemed to stare at the paper cutout for several seconds before she said, "I see, Shingyoku has been bested in battle. It is still intact, but unable to continue in an indeterminate duration..."

The mysterious individual behind Konngara seemed to perform a gesture in response to the news. Whatever gesture she did, it was impossible to tell under the shadows that blanketed her.

After that is done, Konngara released the paper cutout, letting it fly back toward the direction it first came from. "She managed to defeat the Ancient Formless Guardian not through brute force, but by outsmarting it." The Astral Knight added. "For a youngling who is still in training, Hakurei Reimu did surprisingly well..."

Konngara then glances at the mysterious individual with the corner of her eyes.

"But as with all forms of occupation, it takes more than that for a trainee to become fully fledged."

As soon as the Astral Knight finishes her sentence, something literally appeared out of thin air, manifesting itself as a small orb of pure electricity, in front of her.

"You came just as I am about to ask for you..." Konngara turned toward the electric orb and addressed it. "I assume you know of the task I am about to bestow upon you?"

As the electric orb is just that, an orb of pure electricity, it has no physical gesture to speak of whatsoever. But Konngara seems to be able to understand the (perhaps mental) gesture that it performed.

"Very well..." Konngara said. "Now go, test the Hakurei shrine maiden and her capabilities."

Without further adieu, the electric orb shot off toward the direction of Konngara's human-shaped paper cutout, and soon disappeared from sight.

...

One dozen danmaku barrages later, the fairies quickly evacuated the vicinity with their Kedama in tow, knowing full well that they don't have enough firepower to knock down the purple-haired embodiment of powerful that is Hakurei Reimu.

"We need a bigger number! Let's get out of here!" One of the fairies exclaimed, as she led the retreating fairies away from the scene.

Another fairy took a direct hit and went out cold as she is retreating along with the others, whom manages to get away before more of them are downed.

"I'm not finished with you yet!" Reimu shouted at the retreating fairies. "Come back here!"

Genji shook his head and asked the shrine maiden trainee. "Is it necessary to hunt down those specific fairies whom attacked you at the shrine?"

"Not necessary, but I want to!" Reimu gives a straight reply. "I will make every single fairy in Gensokyo know that you don't simply make fun of the Hakurei family!"

"Even knowing very well that they will forget it the next day?" Genji remarked.

Reimu became stumped upon hearing that remark. The shrine maiden trainee stammered for a short while before she just decided to shrug it off. "Never mind that! I just want to beat them up for what they did!"

Genji sighed. "Younglings these days..."

...

Reimu, still riding on Genji's back, gave chase to the escaping fairies, but soon lost sight of them in a small open field in the middle of the Fairy Forest.

"I lost them!" Reimu said angrily as she hopped off Genji and kicked the dirt. "I swear, I am so going to knock some sense into them, even if they are going to forget about it the next day!"

As the shrine maiden trainee continued her angry rant, Genji took several steps away from her, knowing that he has no purpose with Reimu for the next minute or two.

The flying turtle looked up to the skies and said, "Oh, is this what the Hakurei clan will become in the future? Youngsters with an unnecessary amount of determination?" After that, Genji rested himself on the ground, and shut his eyes for a while.

But then, something made him open his eyes again, and look straight ahead with suspicion.

Genji turned toward Reimu and tried to inform the shrine maiden trainee, "Reimu..."

But Reimu quickly cut him off, as she was still in the middle of her angry rant at that point. "Can't you see I'm having a mid-life cri... wait, wrong set of words." She quickly corrects herself, and restarts her sentence. "Can't you see I'm having a case of... Ah, whatever! I just need a minute to vent some steam!"

Genji wanted... Needed to make sure Reimu pays attention to what he was going to tell her, so he made it really quick. "I sense another powerful aura approaching."

That certainly got Reimu's attention. "Say wh..."

The shrine maiden trainee is interrupted mid-sentence by a bolt of lightning that struck close to her feet. The unusual thing about this lightning strike is that it didn't come from the skies, it came from straight ahead at a horizontal trajectory.

"...What the Makai?" Reimu swore (again), as she turns toward where the unusual lightning strike came from.

An orb of pure electricity came out from that very direction at a very high speed, and stopped just a few meters in front of Reimu. The electric orb then moves back and came to a stop again in the center of the opening.

"This is the powerful aura I sensed..." Genji told Reimu.

"This orb of electricity?" The shrine maiden trainee inquired. "It definitely isn't normal, alright..."

The electric orb started to crackle with intensity, causing both Reimu and Genji to take several steps as it happens.

"No matter why this thing is here, I don't think we can get past it without a fight..." Reimu said, as she gets herself prepared for a big battle.

After ten seconds of intense crackling, the electric orb lashed out five separate bolts of lightning - none aimed at the shrine maiden trainee nor the flying turtle. From the tips of each of the lightning bolts spawned transparent non-corporeal disks with what appeared to be eyes on them. The electric orb itself, at that point, had taken on the appearance of a young woman with blonde hair, wearing a kimono that is colored in different shades of yellow. The entity in which the eye-disks are connected to is still crackling with electricity, only now the electricity has become calm enough that it is barely noticeable.

"So, you are the newest Hakurei shrine maiden - Hakurei Reimu. Am I correct?" The young woman made of electricity spoke, her voice coming out with static in between each word.

Reimu doesn't know what the entity before her can do, so she decided to play along for a while first. "Um... Yeah, I'm Hakurei Reimu..." The shrine maiden trainee answers. "Are you planning to fight me like that Ancient Formless Guardian did back there?" She added a question.

"Your assumption is correct." The young woman answers Reimu's question. "I intend to test the full extent of your powers..."

Genji decided to interrupt the young woman and said to Reimu. "Be careful, Reimu, this is..."

The young woman proceeds to interrupt Genji in return. "Oh, where are my manners?" She said. "Allow me to introduce myself..."

****Watchful Eyes of Eternal Power** **

****Yuugen-Magan** **

"I am known as the Watchful Eyes of Eternal Power - Yuugen-Magan. As you can see, I am but an entity made of pure energy. Living for half a millennia has made me quite powerful..."

As the appeared-to-be-young woman - Yuugen-Magan finishes her short self-introduction, the eye-disks projected from her electrical body all stared straight at Reimu, each of them seemingly collecting electricity in the process.

"Do you, a young shrine maiden in training, have what it takes to best me, a very old being of pure energy, in battle?" Yuugen-Magan seemingly dares the shrine maiden trainee. "I will let you the honor of first strike."

Reimu knew the entity before her meant it seriously, so she gets her limitless supply of Ofuda ready. "Well then, I better make this first strike count..." Before she actually does anything, she turned toward Genji and told him, "After all those time you worked for my predecessors including my mother, I think you know very well how bad these kind of battles are going to be, so..."

"I will excuse myself to the side so I don't get in your way..." Genji finishes Reimu's sentence for her, and complies, as he moved himself into the edge of the opening under some foliage.

With that done, Reimu turned back toward Yuugen-Magan, whose eye-disks are still collecting electricity.

"Now then, shall we begin?"

Without waiting for a response, Reimu launched her first strike against Yuugen-Magan, in the form of an Ofuda thrown straight at the electrical entity...

* * *

Well, there. Reimu has only just finished her first boss battle against Shingyoku, and now she's openly challenged by Yuugen-Magan. Want to know the details of the battle? Well, stay tuned for the next chapter of  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_ , then...

Changes from original canon:

The whole story so far - the original  _ _Highly Responsive To Prayers__  has no established storyline, mostly due to ZUN (and his then-buddies of Amusement Makers) being too drunk(or some other reason?) to come up with one. Here, Konngara has something planned for Reimu, as she sent Shingyoku and now Yuugen-Magan to fight the little shrine maiden trainee...

Yuugen-Magan's character - All we know of this character in  _ _HRTP__  is that  _ _it__ has next-to-no information for anyone to know about. Here,  _ _she__  establishes her identity to Reimu, and cites her intention for challenging the shrine maiden trainee. There's also her title, which has been changed from "Evil Eyes" to "Watchful Eyes of Eternal Power".

Still waiting for me to list out the references? Like I said, I'm not going to do so, unlike Lt Col Summers, so get used to it. This will be the very last time I remind you of this.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords ends here._


	5. Watchful Eyes of Eternal Power

Nothing to say here this time, people...

So move along...

__Forewords ends here..._ _

* * *

****Fairy Forest, Outskirts of Gensokyo.** **

There was a slight miscalculation in Reimu's first strike against Yuugen-Magan.

The Ofuda that the shrine maiden trainee sent flying toward the electrical being's direction was aimed at her main body, which turned out to be intangible as the Ofuda simply flew right through her and exploded a tree behind her instead.

"It seems that you require more training, little girl..." Yuugen-Magan told Reimu. "Now, I believe it is my turn."

The electrical being seemed to raise her right hand, at the same time the intensity of the eye-disks' electricity reaches their peak. She then follows up by pointing her right hand straight at Reimu, after which the eye-disks responds to the gesture by each blasting their own beams of pure electricity at the shrine maiden trainee.

Reimu, having been distracted by Yuugen-Magan's gesture that came before her attack notices the attack too late, and knowing that it is impossible to dodge the beams at this point, simply braced herself for the attack.

However, all five beams missed the shrine maiden trainee, albeit by a small margin, and charred the ground around her feet instead.

"You missed..." Reimu said, noting the obvious.

"...Intentionally." Yuugen-Magan replies. "I only wish to test your powers. Defeating you is not my primary intent." The being raised her non-corporeal hand again, in preparation for another attack. "You have seen what I am capable of. Now, are you prepared for it?"

Reimu took a single step back in response to what she heard. "Uh... I don't think I..."

Without waiting for the shrine maiden trainee to finish, Yuugen-Magan launched her second attack. This time, all five electric beams are aimed straight at Reimu.

The only thing on Reimu's mind at that point is to try and avoid the incoming beams. She does so by rolling out of the way at the last second.

The five beams continued past where Reimu stood seconds ago, and tore up several trees, plus giving a very nasty electrical shock to a little fairy who've decided to spectate the battle.

The poor little fairy was left with soot all over, and then collapses onto the ground out cold.

"Okay..." Reimu took note of what happened to the fairy. "Best if I avoid getting hit..."

Yuugen-Magan fires off another attack, which Reimu manages to dodge - albeit barely clearing the trajectory of one of the five beams - before she retaliates by firing a series of danmaku back at the electrical being. Remembering that Yuugen-Magan's main body is effectively immune to attacks, Reimu fired her danmaku at the eye-disks instead.

The eye-disks turned out to be not intangible, taking direct hits from the danmaku barrage and flinching in response to each hit.

Reimu dodged the next series of beams, and then threw several Ofuda at the direction of Yuugen-Magan's eye-disks. One of the eye-disks took a direct hit from an Ofuda, the explosion causing enough non-physical damage that the bolt of electricity connecting to it faded away before the eye-disk itself breaks down into fragments that also quickly faded away.

Yuugen-Magan turned to look at were the defeated eye-disk once was, and then back to Reimu. "Interesting. You are not the kind to fight with sheer brute force..."

"Well, I appreciate your compliment." Reimu answers. "But maybe we can talk after we're done fighting."

Yuugen-Magan seemed to smile. "Impatient child, aren't you...?"

The electrical being continues her attack on Reimu. Only this time there's just four beams of electricity since one of the eye-disks has been taken out.

Reimu dodges the incoming beams by dropping down onto the ground, and then seizing the opportunity, concentrates firing danmaku at one of Yuugen-Magan's eye-disks. After taking several dozen hits, another eye-disk bites the dust as it breaks down and fades away.

"Well done, young shrine maiden..." Yuugen-Magan said to Reimu. "No human has ever lasted this long against me." The electrical being prepared for another round of attacks. "But this is where everything becomes... interesting..."

"Depends on what your idea of 'interesting' in this case is..." Reimu said.

"Perhaps you should see for yourself." Yuugen-Magan responds, before firing off another set of electric beams.

Only this time, the beams are not aimed at one spot. Instead, they are moving all over the place, drawing lines of scorches on the ground wherever they go.

Reimu attempts to dodge the beam, but this time she didn't clear the line of fire completely, and one of the three beams grazed the shrine maiden trainee by her torso, and that's still enough to inflict a full shock as though it was a direct hit.

Reimu hits the dirt ground hard, paralyzed by the electrical shock she had experienced just now. "And now I finally understand why it is foolish to stand out in the open during a thunderstorm." She told herself.

Yuugen-Magan crossed her intangible arms. "Don't disappoint me, Hakurei shrine maiden. I know you can still fight."

Reimu slowly picks herself up from the ground. "You're right, I'm not done yet."

Then without saying anything more, the shrine maiden trainee made a dash toward Yuugen-Magan.

Not surprised one bit by this, the electrical being fires off another three beam that at first are scattered wide apart from each other, and then converges onto Reimu as she gets closer.

Reimu then truly surprises Yuugen-Magan by somersaulting over the converging electric beams at the last second. Mid-somersault, Reimu released a dozen Ofuda at Yuugen-Magan, taking out two of her three remaining eye-disks.

The shrine maiden trainee then sets her next and final target to be the last eye-disk remaining, as her somersault happened to get her close enough to smash it with her gohei.

Yuugen-Magan knew no other way to defend her last eye-disk other than to have it fire an electric beam at Reimu point-blank, which she did.

But Reimu had seen the point-blank beam coming, and she already has an Ofuda deployed to double as a shield to block the beam. Reimu then uses the tip of her gohei to push the Ofuda closer to the offending eye-disk.

Inch by inch, Reimu's Ofuda gets closer to Yuugen-Magan's last line of defense while the electrical being struggles - for the first time in a millennia - to hold off her enemy.

As soon as the Ofuda makes contact with the last eye-disk, a brilliant flash is released followed by an explosion that both blew Reimu back and took out Yuugen-Magan's last eye-disk.

The lost of all five eye-disks caused Yuugen-Magan's main body to be no longer intangible (although she is still crackling with electricity). The electrical being is very surprised, not by how she is now tangible, but by how she had suffered her very first defeat in her lifetime.

Yuugen-Magan looked at Reimu, who landed on the ground on her back. The shrine maiden trainee proceeds to pick herself up, with her gohei still in hand.

Rather than performing another attack, Reimu just scratched her head and said, "Okay, maybe that was too risky for a trainee like me..."

Yuugen-Magan took a step - well, not really a step since she's hovering above the ground - closer toward Reimu, before telling her, "Well done, Hakurei Reimu. I have to say, I am..."

Reimu turned toward Yuugen-Magan. "...Impressed?" She crossed her arms and shook her head. "I hope not, because that last attack was thought up of at the last second..."

"But still, I am surprised." Yuugen-Magan continued. "I have lived for a millennia, and you are the first human to have defeated me in battle." The electrical being backed a little bit. "You are a worthy opponent, not by overpowering, but by outsmarting me."

Yuugen-Magan moved aside, as if to let Reimu pass by her. She pointed at the deeper parts of the Fairy Forest and said, "You were searching for a specific group of individuals, no? I will let you go after them, and I won't stop you..."

Reimu became a bit confused. "You sure about that?"

"I only fought you to see first hand what you have learned as a trainee..." Yuugen-Magan answers. "For that, my task here is finished. You may proceed with your task."

Reimu stared at the electrical being for a full five seconds, before she said, "Well, thank you..." The shrine maiden trainee then turns toward where Genji had been excused to prior to the battle. "Come on, Genji. We're going."

Genji came out of the foliage and joined Reimu. "I too am impressed, Reimu. But I am quite worried when you received that shock..."

Reimu gently tapped on the flying turtle's shell with her gohei. "Never mind that. I still have unfinished business with those fairies."

This time, Genji said nothing as he followed Reimu into the deeper parts of the Fairy Forest.

"There is something I should tell you as well, Hakurei Reimu..." Yuugen-Magan suddenly said.

"Hm?" Reimu reacted without turning around to face the electrical being.

"Your personal quest to hunt down those lesser individuals..." Yuugen-Magan told Reimu. "...It is in fact, a part of something else, planned by an individual whose powers are greater than mine."

Reimu made no comment on what she is told about.

"That is all I wish to say..." Yuugen-Magan finishes her speech. "Good luck, Hakurei Reimu, and until next time we meet..."

A bolt of lightning came from the skies and struck Yuugen-Magan directly. Following the lightning strike, the electrical being seems to have literally disappeared into thin air.

Reimu did not turn back to see where Yuugen-Magan has gone to. "A part of something else...?" She repeated to herself in a whisper.

* * *

Well, sorry for being so late with this chapter, people.

You see, Lt Col Summers and I got into big enough of a trouble in real life that we both got grounded by my mom. I've intended to finish this chapter yesterday, but that's when the grounding took place...

Mom had rescinded the grounding earlier today for some reason, under one condition that I don't want to talk about here. Though I'll make sure to update this story as much as I can.

Changes from canon:

The post-battle conversation with Yuugen-Magan - In  _ _HRTP__ , Yuugen-Magan fades away as soon as she is defeated. Here, she's only weakened to the point of being unable to continue fighting, making her defeat a technical knock-out. She also tells Reimu of being a worthy opponent, and implying that the fairies prank from back at the Hakurei Shrine is orchestrated by a third party (in this case, Konngara and possibly Sariel).

"And that, as they say, is that..."

__Afterwords ends here._ _


	6. Pulling The Strings

Okay, I'll see if I can make updates to the story arrive faster. They have been as slow as Lt Colonel Summers'.

Wish me good luck...

_Forewords ends here._

* * *

**Fairy Forest Depth, Outskirts of Gensokyo.**

Konngara knew what to expect when the latest small paper cutout - a Shikigami - came back to deliver the Astral Knight a message.

"So, Yuugen-Magan has been defeated in battle..." Konngara said. "It seems that the latest Hakurei Shrine Maiden is beyond what was expected, despite being still a trainee."

The mysterious individual accompanying the Astral Knight remained silent still.

Konngara dispels the Shikigami. "But what matters is that all is going according to planned." She said. "Hakurei Reimu may have overcome the fence of difficulty, but now comes the wall of challenges for her."

The Astral Knight puts her left hand to her chin.

"However..." Konngara added, as her expression becomes that of an almost nonexistent paleness. "The next individual that will duel the shrine maiden in battle... Her current mental condition may as well be the pebble that disturbs the surface of the calm pond..."

...

**Fairy Forest.**

It is a known fact that fairies are usually overconfident, often to the point of being suicidal. Fairies will usually try so hard at achieving something that they fail to see the pointlessness in it.

That is exactly what the fairies attacking Reimu are. They continued throwing everything they have at the shrine maiden trainee even though they knew the difference in power level is too great to make any difference.

The fairies have tried everything they can to fend off the purple-haired powerhouse. Simply shooting danmaku at her, throwing pebbles and sticks, throwing Kedama, throwing  _each other_ , pre-set bobby traps (that failed spectacularly enough to make Reimu laugh), sneak up from behind and whack her in the head with a stick, etc...

All of them failed.

As more and more fairies and Kedama alike gets knocked out, the few smarter ones started to doubt the possibility of even landing a hit on Reimu.

The smarter ones eventually decided that they stand no chance, and tried to make a run for it. One of them included the leader of the very same group that pranked Reimu back at the Hakurei Shrine.

Noticing some of the fairies making a run for it, Reimu throws an Ofuda at them, and sits back on Genji's back as she watched the explosion knocking out all of them.

...All but one, which the shrine maiden trainee failed to notice. Its the same fairy that led the prank which instigated Reimu's coming to the Fairy Forest in the first place.

...

The lead fairy flew as far away from the non-lethal carnage as her wings could take her. After quite a bit of distance, she turned around to see if Reimu is right behind her.

That was not the case. The lead fairy sighed in relief, and sat herself under a small tree.

"Did I overdo that prank on her?" The lead fairy asked herself. "Maybe I should have went with spiking her tea and then doodling on her face instead..."

And then something disturbed the lead fairy's thoughts.

"What is that...?"

Something difficult to describe with words had descended upon the lead fairy. The object's dark glow quickly covered the surroundings in a shade of light blue.

Mesmerized by the object, the lead fairy stood up and slowly approached it. "What could this be?" She wondered.

The lead fairy stopped right in front of the object. Even from such a distance, it is still impossible to tell what the object actually is.

Curiosity had led to the lead fairy extending a hand toward the object. She left her hand hanging for a while...

...And then her irises seemed to shrink...

...

"I just realized..." Reimu announced as she swept an unconscious Kedama off her head. "...I think I saw the specific fairy I was looking for just now."

"And I assume you are satisfied with knocking her down?" Genji asked.

Reimu crosses her arms. "Not completely, but that's a start."

Genji immediately raises another point. "What of the remainder of her group?"

Upon hearing that, Reimu acted as though she was punched in the gut. "W... well, the rest of them looked too generic to recognize amongst all the fairies I've beaten up today." The shrine maiden trainee turns away from the flying turtle's face. "She's the only one with a unique appearance... so far..."

Genji decided to stop talking about it. "As you say, young lady..."

The duo then continues onward without saying anything else.

But then, something made Genji stop.

Reimu wondered what made the flying turtle stop all of a sudden. "What's wrong? You sense something powerful again?"

"No, not just powerful..." Genji answers. "Very dark..."

"I think I see what you're talking about..." Reimu interrupts as she notices something further into the forest approaching at a very high speed.

The approaching entity is glowing. A  _dark_  glow that seemed to absorb the light and color from its surrounding.

"A new enemy, maybe?" Reimu deadpans as she throws an Ofuda toward the approaching entity.

Upon making contact with the entity, the Ofuda simply burned away with no chance to explode. The entity is not fazed one bit by it.

Reimu, on the other hand, is surprised with the attack having no effect whatsoever. "What?!"

As the entity gets too close to be shot with danmaku, the shrine maiden trainee decided to swing her gohei at it instead, with another Ofuda deployed to bolster the power of the swing.  _That_  also didn't work, as the entity knocks the wind out of Reimu and off Genji's back, sending her tumbling across the ground.

"Godsdamn it, that hurts..." Reimu complained as she picks herself up. A small hole has been torn open at the shoulder portion of her clothes.

Genji turned around to face the shrine maiden trainee. "Reimu, are you alright?"

Reimu rubs the back of her head. "Maybe not this time..." She then takes a look at the entity which turned around after bashing the shrine maiden trainee.

The entity appeared to be a fairy, but not a species that Reimu nor Genji are familiar with. For starters, she has pale skin and an equally pale waist-length hair with a little shade of blue, is dressed in a long-sleeved frill-less dress, and most of all, is surrounded by an aura that resembled dark blue flames.

"Ha ha! Like that?" The strange new fairy taunted in a tone that Reimu finds familiar.

"Wait, I recognize that voice..." Reimu was quick to catch on it. "You're..."

The strange new fairy interrupts her. "Yes, I still think it is worth pranking you back at the shrine!" She proceeds to chew the scenery, and is clearly enjoying it. "You easily knocked down me and my friends back there, but now  _I_  will knock  _you_  down!"

Reimu attempts to ruin the strange new fairy's boast by firing a dozen danmaku at her. All of them hits, but none of them even made her flinch, causing the shrine maiden trainee to be surprised even more.

The strange new fairy waved at Reimu in a taunting manner, and said, "Silly shrine maiden, that won't work on a Doom Fairy... Like what I am now..."

After finishing her sentence, the strange new fairy - a "Doom Fairy", it seems - proceeds to lash out her own attack, which is a thin laser beam that came so fast Reimu barely manages to dodge it.

The laser beam travels in an uninterrupted line as well as going all the way through a boulder and three large trees in a row. The laser is then aimed while it is still active, slicing through everything it is directed at.

Reimu notes the amount of damage that the Doom Fairy's laser did, and swallows hard for once. "This will be in no way easy, Genji..." She said as she quickly makes her way back onto Genji's back.

"I know, Reimu..." Genji responds. "This fairy's powers..."

"Leave what you need to tell me for after this fight..." Reimu quickly interrupts the flying turtle. "Here she comes!"

Another laser beam was fired, this time punching a hole through Reimu's hair ribbon and continues on to chop down a tree.

Reimu quickly retaliates with several danmaku. Like before, those danmaku had no effect whatsoever on the Doom Fairy.

"Pop quiz! What is purple and is about to be beaten?" The Doom Fairy lashed out yet another taunt, as she charges up a really big orb of a danmaku. "Beep! Time's up, you lose!" She then hurls said big danmaku toward Reimu.

Reimu avoids the big danmaku by jumping over it and landing back onto Genji. She then turns around to see where the big danmaku has landed, and sees it producing a big crater and a mushroom-shaped cloud that's about as tall as she is.

"I think I don't want to even  _graze_  that..." Reimu swallows hard as she notes.

The shrine maiden trainee fires several more danmaku followed by an Ofuda at the Doom Fairy. Still, no effect.

"Want to know the answer to the pop quiz?" The Doom Fairy figuratively chews the scenery while charging another big danmaku, "Well, here's a hint!" before hurling to toward Reimu.

This one landed right in front of Reimu, the explosion sends the shrine maiden trainee flying backwards uncontrollably, although this time she manages to land on her feet. Genji was also blown back by the same explosion, and now he's lying next to Reimu on his back, unable to get up.

"Well, uh... Sorry about that, Genji..." Reimu apologizes to the flying turtle. "But I hope you can accept being in that position..." She leans to the side to avoid a laser beam. "...For the next few minutes while I deal with this stronger-than-usual fairy."

The shrine maiden trainee then grabs a pebble from the ground and throws it right at the Doom Fairy.

The thrown pebble actually have some effect, albeit a very small one, as the Doom Fairy clearly reacts to being hit in the forehead by it.

"Hey, that hurts!" The Doom Fairy complained, and then retaliates with a laser beam that is swiped across the area, slicing off many of the surrounding trees.

Reimu dodges the laser by crouching, but then have to roll out of the way of a tree that fell toward her. "That was a surprise. Danmaku didn't work, but a tiny little pebble did."

Seeing that the Doom Fairy is about to hurl another big danmaku at her, Reimu tossed out two Ofuda, this time aimed at the ground right before the Doom Fairy so the dust kicked up by the resulting explosion temporarily blinds the Doom Fairy.

As the Doom Fairy is temporarily blinded by the dust cloud, Reimu took the opportunity to think of a possibly way to defeat this formidable foe.

"Let's see... Danmaku has no effect, Ofuda simply burns out on contact... Aside from the pebble, what else have I not physically tried yet..."

Something immediately caught the shrine maiden trainee's attention.

"Physical... Wait, danmaku and Ofuda didn't work, but the pebble did probably because it was physical."

Having thought of that, Reimu reached into the same hidden inventory where she stores her Ofuda, and pulls out what appeared to be a genuine Ying-Yang Orb.

By that point, the dust cloud is clearing up, and the Doom Fairy will be back in fighting condition very soon.

"I sure hope this works..." Reimu said as she stared at the Ying-Yang Orb in her hand.

The dust clears up completely and the Doom Fairy is ready to continue the battle. Its now or never.

"Hey, you!" Reimu calls out to the Doom Fairy as she channels her innate magic power and prepares to toss the Ying-Yang Orb.

"That was a dirty trick!" The Doom Fairy lashed out. "What are you up to now?!"

"Now its my turn to ask you a pop quiz." Reimu responds with an irrelevant answer. "What is the most appropriate word for what's about to happen?"

Despite being abnormally powerful, the Doom Fairy still has the same amount of intelligence as a normal fairy. "Um, what?"

"Here's the answer if you can't answer it." Reimu said, and immediately follows the sentence with tossing the Ying-Yang Orb at full force. "さようなら！" [Sayonara!]

The Doom Fairy had time to react to the incoming Ying-Yang Orb, and tries to shoot it out with a laser beam. But the laser beam did nothing in stopping the projectile, and soon the Doom Fairy took its full force right in the face.

Exactly one second after getting hit by the Ying-Yang Orb, the dark blue fire-like aura surrounding the Doom Fairy faded away, before the Doom Fairy herself goes off in a bright flash.

The bright flash quickly fades away to reveal an ordinary fairy lying down at the exact same spot. Said fairy happens to be the exact same one that led the prank on Reimu back at the Hakurei Shrine.

Reimu was surprised on two accounts. "Well, I wasn't expecting that to actually win the fight for me. But first of all..." She then turn toward the fairy. "It was  _you_?!"

The fairy picked herself up, only to drop back onto the ground when she sees herself back to normal again, and that the shrine maiden trainee is giving her that angry look.

"I... I... I gotta go now!" The fairy said before she quickly turns around and flies out of the scene in fear.

"Hey, come back here, you little...!" Reimu attempted to give chase, but quickly remembers that a human on foot is never going to catch a flying fairy. She turns around to go get Genji. "Well, what do you know, the 'Doom Fairy' I've fought just now turned out to be the same one that I wanted to personally have my revenge on..." She told the flying turtle as she flips him right-side up.

Genji shook his head to clear up any trace of dizziness, before telling Reimu, "I was going to tell you about her powers..."

Reimu knew Genji is up to something, judging by his tone. "What about her?"

Genji clears his turtle throat before saying, "The aura that made her so powerful... That is no natural magic, it seemed more like... dark sorcery..."

"Dark sorcery...?" Reimu thought about it for a while. "So you're telling me that someone may be pulling the strings behind everything I've faced today, just like what Yuugen-Magan had implied to me?"

"That may be the case..." Genji answers.

Reimu quickly climbed back onto Genji's back before saying, "Well, I guess I'll have to meet the string-puller in person if I want to finish things here. Let's go, Genji."

...

Unbeknownst to Reimu and Genji, someone else was present, observing the duel with the Doom Fairy from not too far away from the scene.

The individual smirked and then said, "Perhaps... The Astral Knight may be right about... this girl..."

* * *

Whoops, I got so carried away at describing the fight with the Doom Fairy, I didn't realize I've made this chapter too long. So I'll make the Afterwords quick.

This Doom Fairy will not be the only one Reimu will be fighting in this story. There will be more, you just have to wait.

Changes from canon:

The Doom Fairy - in  _Touhou_  canon, nothing much is said about these empowered fairies, and even the official  _Touhou_  wiki doesn't have a page for them. Here, they turn out to be ordinary fairies being empowered by a third party's dark sorcery. Hmm, I wonder who this third party is..."

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords ends here._


	7. Dark is Almost Evil

So far, what do you guys think of this fan remake?

If you enjoyed the story so far, do leave behind a Review or two to show your support.

_Forewords ends here._

* * *

**Fairy Forest, outskirts of Gensokyo.**

Reimu, currently riding on Genji, gave chase to the fairy that led the prank group at the Hakurei Shrine, whom the shrine maiden trainee just had an intense battle with.

The fairy is eventually caught up with, when Reimu fired a single danmaku at her to temporarily knock her down.

As it is just a single danmaku, the fairy quickly recovers and picks herself from the ground. But Reimu prevented her from escaping any further by grabbing the collar of her blouse.

The fairy panicked. "Oh, I'm sorry for pranking you at your home! I'm really sorry for almost killing you just now! Please don't kill me!"

"I won't kill you..." Reimu told the fairy bluntly.

The fairy stopped panicking. "Huh?"

"Instead..." Reimu then taps her gohei on the fairy's head. "I have two questions to ask you, and all you need to do is to answer them truthfully..."

The fairy swallowed hard. "G... go ahead... ask..."

Reimu lifts her gohei away from the fairy's head. "First question: how did you become so powerful just now?"

The fairy swallowed hard before answering with a stammer, "I... I... I... I don't know wh... what it is... But it l... looked like a blue f... f... f... fireball that isn't h... hot..."

Reimu gently taps the fairy on her head. "Good answer. Now, the second question: was the prank at the shrine even  _your_  idea?" The shrine maiden trainee had put an emphasis on the "your" in her sentence.

"No, not my idea..." The fairy answered truthfully. "A lady with a single horn told me and the others to... I don't know... coax you here? I swear, that's all I know..."

After getting the answers she wanted, Reimu released her grip on the fairy. "Thank you. Now go back to your usual fairy business before I change my mind."

The fairy took the opportunity to escape from the scene as quickly as her wings could take her. This time, Reimu did not give chase.

"Yuugen-Magan was right." The shrine maiden trainee told Genji. "Someone hired those fairies to draw me here. But why?"

"I do not know..." Genji replies. "But whoever did so must have a specific reason..."

"Then I guess the only way to find out is to meet this person face-to-face." Reimu declares. "The master mind must be somewhere in this forest, so let's go."

...

It hasn't been very deep into the Fairy Forest, but something immediately caught Reimu's attention.

"Genji, we're still in the Fairy Forest, right?" The shrine maiden trainee asked.

"That is correct..." Genji answered.

Reimu scanned her surroundings before turning back toward Genji. "If that's the case, then where have the fairies gone to?"

The shrine maiden trainee was on to something. There has not been another fairy in sight ever since the encounter with the Doom Fairy.

"Fairies don't just vacate their turf for no reason." Reimu analyzes the occurrence. "Is something driving them away?"

An answer came, but the female voice that did so doesn't sound like a fairy, nor does it belong to any voice Reimu knows. In fact, it doesn't even sound like a living being's voice.

_"Well, of course something is driving them away..."_

Hearing this creepy voice sent chills down both Reimu and Genji, but the latter is more surprised than he is crept out.

"This voice...!" Genji exclaims.

Reimu becomes surprised at the flying turtle's reaction. "You know this voice?"

It was the voice that answered.  _"Why wouldn't he know? Hakurei Miko has multiple run-ins with me, after all..."_

"Hakurei Miko... My mother...?" Reimu became even more surprised. "What do you know about my mother? Show yourself!"

The voice let out a tiny but malicious laugh, before saying,  _"Oh, how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself..."_

The voice then reveals herself, not too far in front of the shrine maiden trainee and her flying turtle.

**Eternally Vengeful Evil Spirit**

**Mima**

She turned out to be a humanoid evil spirit with dark eyes, long green hair and a white cap. She also wears a long white and blue dress with red and green markings around its edges. She also has a medium-length cape with tattered edges, fastened at her neck with a red ribbon. As an evil spirit, she also has a ghostly tail where her legs should have been.

She is also carrying a bloodied knife. The blood stains appears to be  _very_  old.

 _"My name is Mima. Formerly a powerful sorceress. Now I am just a shadow of my former self, after my final encounter with Hakurei Miko..."_  The evil spirit introduces herself.

"I think I can see why you died..." Reimu tries to be as sarcastic as possible, but there's no denying that Mima is a very creepy individual.

Mima gives Reimu the stare that was enough to make Reimu jerk back, despite her regular expression that is already creepy.  _"Do you...?"_  She said.

It hasn't even been a minute into the encounter, and already, Reimu has ran out of appropriate words for the conversation. So she turned toward Genji, and whispers, "Do you know anything else about her?"

Genji tries his best to answer. "It was a long time since I last saw her... But I can still remember that something happened between your mother and Mima. It went horribly wrong, Mima flipped out and went on a rampage, and your mother was forced to kill her..." Genji sighed, this time with elements of pity in it. "It was something she heavily regretted, and she took the regret into the casket..."

Mima interrupts Genji.  _"And here I am, an evil spirit who is still having a case of mental breakdown and what is known today as PTSD..."_  The evil spirit twirls her bloodied knife, and lets out a soft malicious chuckle.  _"I don't even remember exactly what got me killed..."_ Mima then directs her sight on Reimu.

Reimu sweated cold sweat out of instinct. "I don't think I'm going to like what comes next..."

Mima continues her speech.  _"But I still remember who killed me. Of course, since she is probably already dead by now..."_  The evil spirit points the tip of her knife at Reimu.  _"I'll have my revenge... by fighting_ you _..."_

Reimu let out a deadpan sigh as she tells herself, "I knew it..."

Mima suddenly decides to put down her knife for a short while.  _"And you, flying turtle..."_  the evil spirit said to Genji.  _"...Stay out of my personal business..."_

Genji looked like he was about to defy the evil spirit, until Reimu stopped her.

"Let's not anger her in any way, considering that she admitted to being crazy." The shrine maiden trainee told the flying turtle, and then climbs down his back onto the ground. "You sit aside, Genji. I will try to handle this."

Genji looked at Reimu, then at Mima, and then back at Reimu. "Very well..." He said, before removing himself from the scene.

With that done, Reimu redirected her attention back on Mima, as she held her gohei tightly.

 _"So, where was I again?"_  Mima said with an evil grin.  _"Oh, I am going to fight you..."_

Then with no warning, the evil spirit channeled her magical powers - at this point identifiable as dark sorcery - into her bloodstained knife, and fires a single blood red danmaku.

Said blood red danmaku did not hit Reimu directly, but it did graze the shrine maiden trainee slightly on her left shoulder.

It drew blood, unlike the danmaku that Reimu herself fires, or the ones fired at her by the fairies.

"Wait a minute..." Reimu was surprised at taking physical damage from an attack that was supposed to be incapable of causing physical harm. "It drew blood! That's illegal!"

 _"I was_ killed _, after all..."_  Mima said with an evil grin.  _"Even if there's a new rule that forbids attacks from doing physical harm, I don't care..."_  The evil spirit points her knife straight at Reimu again.  _"I am ready, but are you?"_

"Well..." Reimu responds as she gets herself ready for battle. "You broke the one rule that everyone are following. So it is my job as a shrine maiden to... what was the word? Oh... 'Exorcise' you."

Mima crossed her ghostly arms and said.  _"You have quite the spirit... and humor, girl. Just like your mother before the day she took my life..."_ The evil spirit begins to emit the same dark aura that enveloped the Doom Fairy from earlier.  _"Now then... Shall we begin?"_

* * *

Well, well. Look how slow I was at updating  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_...

Immediately when I started writing this chapter's Afterwords section, Lt Colonel Summers had told me that he had took too long of a break from his own writings due to how slow I am, and that he plans to stop the break to resume updating his stories.

I guess that's the consequences of having only one PC in a house where two people frequent the same website. Fanfiction Dot Net also has this problem where its mobile version doesn't let users write stories or edit forum posts.

Now back to the storyline so far.

For why Reimu exclaims that any attack drawing blood is illegal, that's because danmaku was required by law to be  _non-fatal_ , after all.

Changes from canon:

Reimu's mother - in canon, ZUN doesn't even bother to say anything about Reimu's parents, not even in supplementary materials. Here, Reimu's mother is established to be the previous Hakurei Shrine Maiden. Reimu's mother's name is a bit tricky to explain, as the character is technically not a  _Touhou_  canon, and the fandom can't seem to decide whether to have her first name be "Miko" or "Sendai".

Mima as a whole - This lady's also tricky to explain. Canon barely gives her any personality, aside from being an evil spirit who's also Marisa's mentor. Here, she's established to have been a powerful dark sorceress before being killed off by Reimu's mother a long time before the story began, yet I also neglected to say exactly how and why. Screwed up your mind a bit right there, did I?

And that, as they say, is that.

_Afterwords ends here._


	8. Revenge Unserved

Sorry to say this, but updates will start to slow down a bit from this point.

Why? Because this house has only one computer in it, and now that Lt Colonel Summers has terminated his break, he's going to continue updating his own stories. Which mean that we'll have to take turns at using this computer.

This sucked. More so by the fact that FanFiction Mobile doesn't let people write their own stories. You must use the desktop version if you want to write stories.

_Forewords ends here._

* * *

**Fairy Forest Depth, Outskirts of Gensokyo.**

Konngara and her mysterious conspirator stood calmly as a flood of fairies ran or flew past them, some are carrying Kedama with them as they flew by.

The Astral Knight knew that the fairies are frightened and, despite being immortal, are running for their lives.

"For now, I am worried that I may have committed a mistake by hiring that evil spirit to execute part of the plan..." Konngara told her mysterious conspirator.

As if hearing a response, the Astral Knight suddenly turned toward the mysterious conspirator, amidst the still ongoing flood of escaping fairies and Kedama.

"You have faith in the shrine maiden?" Konngara said. "I thought your kind was not the kind to have faith..."

The mysterious conspirator seemed to reply with a hand-sign.

"There are exceptions to everything, you say?" Konngara interprets the mysterious conspirator's message.

The flood of fairies and Kedama ending at that point served to make the scene seem tense.

"Very well..." Konngara gives her response to the mysterious conspirator. "Yours are not to be doubted..."

...

**Fairy Forest.**

_"You're not as strong as I thought, and I am quite disappointed with it..."_  Mima said to Reimu, as the latter stood slightly fatigued after dodging all the lethal danmaku fired at her.

The shrine maiden trainee stopped for a moment to catch her breath (and that Mima seemed to have stopped as well) before telling the evil spirit, "I am still going to... exorcise your sorry ghostly b..."

Mima became amused at that fatigued statement.  _"I have never heard your mother sprouting any expletive, but you seemed to have picked up quite an inappropriate language at quite an early age."_  Mima then crosses her arm, while her left hand is still gripping her knife.  _"What a shame..."_

Reimu finishes catching her breath, and interrupts the evil spirit. "Well, can we please get back with our fight?" She said as she pointed her gohei at Mima.

Mima smiled.  _"Impatient little girl..."_  She twirls the bloodied knife in her hand for a few seconds.

Then without warning, the evil spirit swung the knife forward, sending a burst of razor sharp wind toward Reimu.

Reimu dodged the razor wind by crouching at the last second, but she didn't dodge it completely as it still slices a strand of hair right off the shrine maiden trainee's head.

The razor wind continued past Reimu. An overly curious fairy that didn't escape with her fellows and stayed to watch the fight between Reimu and Mima was unlucky enough to be right in the trajectory of the razor wind, and...

What happened next is something that was enough to make both Reimu and Mima wince.

"Ouch..." Reimu said as she saw what the razor wind did to the poor fairy. "Would've been different if she was a Nukekubi... But she'll probably revive somewhere else and won't remember much of it." The shrine maiden trainee turns back toward Mima. "I'm still going to put you where you belong, you know that?"

 _"I was expecting that..."_  Mima shoots a deadpan response.  _"Not the fairy being there. I'm referring to what you just said."_

"Well then..." Reimu then gets the jump on Mima by firing several danmaku at her.

Unlike Yuugen-Magan's main body, Mima can be hit by danmaku despite being technically a ghost. The evil spirit staggered back a tiny distance (it would be wrong to say "several steps" as Mima has no legs) as she gets hit by the surprise shots.

 _"I should have expected such a foul play, since I was the first to commit a foul play..."_  Mima comments as she recuperates.  _"Good job, young girl."_

The evil spirit then launches another razor wind.

Reimu snatched a rock from the ground and threw it at the razor wind in an attempt to neutralize it. But when she sees that the razor wind sliced clean through the rock, the shrine maiden trainee threw herself onto the ground to avoid being sliced through. Still lying on the ground, Reimu fires several more danmaku at Mima.

Mima staggers back another tiny distance upon being hit. Grunting, she launches a blood red danmaku in retaliation.

Reimu dodges the blood red danmaku by rolling out of the way, but not completely as it still grazed her on her left elbow.

The shrine maiden trainee makes her retaliation. "Give up right now, and I might just consider not exorcising you." She said as she fires danmaku at Mima.

Mima took all of those danmaku directly, including one right to her face, yet the evil spirit still isn't going down.  _"I won't give up!"_  Mima's speech tone suddenly became tense and serious.  _"I wanted to make Hakurei Miko pay for killing me. But since she went and croaked on her own a long time ago, I will dish out my revenge on her offspring - in this case, you!"_  She then rapid-fires several more blood red danmaku.

Reimu dodges all blood red danmaku but one, which she swats out with her gohei (which weathered the fatal shot quite surprisingly). "I don't even know exactly why my mother killed you!" She then returns fire with a small barrage of danmaku.

Mima is prepared for Reimu's return fire this time, and swings her knife around to block the shots. However, this also proved to be her undoing, as the last shot knocked the knife right out of her hand. The knife landed on the ground behind her, handle first.

Reimu took this chance to pelt Mima with more danmaku to prevent her from attempting to pick up the knife, and then follows up by throwing an Ofuda at the evil spirit.

Getting hit by the magical explosive was enough to truly incapacitate Mima. When the smoke cleared up, the evil spirit seemed to be kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily (ghosts don't breathe, so the heavy breathing may just be an indication of fatigue).

 _"Okay, you win..."_  Mima said with no ill intent left in her tone.  _"Now do your job and exorcise me..."_

"You kind of deserved it..." Reimu told the evil spirit.

Reimu seemed to walk up close to Mima. The shrine maiden trainee appeared to raise an Ofuda above her head, but then puts it back down just a few seconds later.

"On second thought, maybe not..." The shrine maiden trainee added.

Mima became confused.  _"I broke the rules and tried to kill you. What made you change your mind?"_  She asked.

Reimu crossed her arms and replies, "I didn't change my mind, its just that I'm not qualified for exorcising anything..." She snaps her fingers. "You see, I'm just a shrine maiden trainee. I can't exorcise you... yet."

Hearing that, Mima turned her stare straight at the ground below her.  _"Heh... It took a professional almost all of her powers to defeat me, but her newbie daughter did the same with much less effort..."_  The evil spirit then face-palms.  _"How rusty have I become... How much have Gensokyo and the world changed..."_

"But..." Reimu suddenly added.

Mima turned her sight back on Reimu when she heard that.

"I can still punish you for breaking the rules..." The shrine maiden trainee said, before slapping the Ofuda onto Mima's face.

Having the Ofuda slapped onto her face caused Mima to be drained of her powers, followed by a sensation of paralysis.

"...And your punishment is to take it easy for the next hour or so~" Reimu finishes her sentence.

With paralysis in place, Mima could only stay still with discontent.

With the situation resolved, Reimu turned around and said, "Come on, Genji, we're going..."

Genji slowly emerged from the foliage he has been hiding in for the entire battle. "Impressive, Reimu..." The flying turtle said.

Reimu and Genji then continues down the path into the deepest parts of the Fairy Forest, leaving Mima behind by herself.

"This girl, Hakurei Reimu, has potential..." Mima told herself, with the evil tone in her speech pattern completely gone.

The evil spirit quickly found herself face to face with a fairy. The same fairy that got hit by her razor wind earlier, having just resurrected.

Said fairy, seeing that Mima is incapacitated and weakened, approached her...

...And then just slapped her with her fairy hand.

"And that's for slicing me in half!" The fairy lashed out.

Mima could only groan as the fairy sprinkled dried leaves all over her before leaving the scene.

* * *

Righto, here's another chapter in this fan remake of  _Touhou_!

Really, I got nothing else to say in this Afterwords section. Other than that you can probably guess who will Reimu fight next.

No changes from canon has been indicated anywhere in this chapter. Mima having two left hands in  _Highly Responsive To Prayers_  is just a technical/ visual glitch in the game, so it doesn't count.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords ends here._


	9. Going Alone

Okay, this PC has suddenly started to crap out in the form of mysterious loss of memory space.

Lt Colonel Summers has been using this PC for about four years already, and even he has no idea what's going on.

We do have a backup PC in mind. But it is a bulky laptop PC compared to this Windows RT tablet with a detachable keyboard...

Like Summers had said in his Profile page: Damn you, Microsoft...

_Forewords ends here._

* * *

**Fairy Forest Depth, outskirts of Gensokyo.**

It became immediately clear to Reimu and Genji that the depth of the Fairy Forest seemed like an entirely different place even though it is just a different part of the same location.

A lot of booby traps were littered around the Fairy Forest Depth, but none of them currently manned. Some were even triggered prematurely a while ago, either hitting absolutely nothing or caused friendly "fire" for the fairies. Whatever the case, something made the official inhabitants of the forest flee all at once.

And that last part is a good enough reason to send chills down Reimu's back.

"Somehow, I get the feeling that whoever wanted to draw me here could be much creepier than that evil spirit back there..." The shrine maiden trainee said. "But it is part of my training as a shrine maiden to expect encounters with creepy individuals, whether they are human or not."

"You may be correct, Reimu..." Genji spoke. "I am currently sensing another source of dark sorcery, this one different that that of Mima's."

Reimu looked down the path ahead of her, then at Genji. "Great. Another one...?"

...

Much deeper into the Fairy Forest Depth, Konngara receives the latest updates on Reimu's progress via one of the many Shikigami she sent out.

"So I see..." The Astral Knight acknowledges what was relayed to her. "Despite the evil spirit going rogue, the shrine maiden trainee made it through in pristine condition, and is currently on her way to my position."

Konngara's mysterious conspirator performed a gesture, which the Astral Knight immediately understood.

"Yes, it would seem that a confrontation with her is inevitable." Konngara answered. "However, she does not yet meet the requirements of the plan. Something needs to be done so that she qualifies."

With that said, Konngara released another Shikigami. The paper cutout flies off toward the sky and quickly disappears.

"I have brought along an...underling...that would make sure Hakurei Reimu have what it takes to engage in a duel with me. I have just sent for her to do what she is instructed to do..." The Astral Knight told her mysterious conspirator. "However, the actions of the evil spirit has caused every single fairy in this forest to evacuate in fear, as such, my underling will be the only thing that stands in the shrine maiden's way."

The mysterious conspirator makes another hand-sign.

"I have prepared a solution for this dilemma as well..." Konngara answers, as she sends out a dozen Shikigami at once.

Each and every one of those Shikigami set themselves right-side up in midair, before they all took off toward the direction where Reimu would be approaching.

"For now, we can only wait and see for ourselves the outcome of the plan..."

...

Something suddenly drew Genji's attention.

"You sensed something again?" Reimu asked the flying turtle.

"Yes..." Genji answers. "Only this time, there's multiple weak sources instead of a single strong one."

"Fairies?" Reimu wondered if that's the case.

"No, this is not natural magic..." Genji told the shrine maiden trainee. "This is a casted spell, and I know only one such type of spell..."

The sound of papers fluttering in the wind can all of a sudden be heard. It seems to get louder every second...

Reimu looked ahead of the path, and saw what appeared to be a swarm of small human-shaped paper cutouts approaching her. "Paper dolls?"

"Weak Shikigami..." Genji continues. "Fragile but simple, they are often deployed individually for observation... Or in large numbers for direct attacks..."

The swarm of Shikigami suddenly came to a halt, forming a barricade that can't be broken through with simple brute force.

Reimu looked at the swarm of Shikigami, then at Genji. "So I take it that I'll have to fight through these things?"

The swarm of Shikigami begins to emit a dim glow.

"That would be the case..." Genji answers.

Just then, the purpose of the dim glow of the Shikigami swarm became apparent: they were preparing to attack.

The swarm of Shikigami begins with a barrage of danmaku. While these danmaku are not as powerful and large as the fairies', the Shikigami swarm makes up for it by firing in huge numbers.

Caught by surprise by such a huge amount of danmaku, Reimu wasn't able to react in time, and took several dozen hits directly. The only reason she wasn't knocked out on the spot is because these danmaku are weaker.

"Gods...damn...it!" Cursing, the shrine maiden trainee fires several danmaku at the swarm of Shikigami.

As Shikigami are made of paper, it took just one danmaku for one of them to be taken out instantly - even a glancing blow is sufficient.

The rest of the swarm of Shikigami fires more danmaku at Reimu. Knowing how they act this time, the shrine maiden trainee wades between the shots (albeit barely due to the sheer massive amount) and returns fire, taking out a few more Shikigami.

"I get the feeling that they'll just keep on coming unless I take down whoever is sending them." Reimu notes as she dodges incoming fires and shoots back. "That means I will have to charge straight through them. Genji, I need you to..."

Before Reimu can finish her sentence, Genji got hit by several of the Shikigami swarm's danmaku, causing him to drop abruptly onto the ground with Reimu still riding on him.

Fortunately, Reimu managed to keep herself balanced on Genji's back when the flying turtle dropped. "Genji, are you alright?" She asked him, while firing danmaku at the swarm of Shikigami.

"I am uninjured, Reimu..." Genji manages a reply. "But I'm afraid that I am unable to carry you the rest of the way. You will have to proceed on your own..."

Reimu had to dodge an incoming barrage of danmaku and then deploys an Ofuda at the swarm of Shikigami to blow them up. "But what about you?" She then asks Genji.

"I will be fine..." The flying turtle responds. "Whoever masterminded everything so far... I believe they only seek your presence."

It took a while for Reimu to process what she was told, and dodging another barrage of danmaku followed by shooting down more Shikigami didn't interrupt her thought. "That's right... None of the opponents we've come across so far has ever directed their attacks anywhere near you, even though they could've made things easier by knocking you out first."

The shrine maiden trainee then releases two more Ofuda, this time effectively dispersing the swarm of Shikigami...for now...

"Well, I guess that some day in the future, I will find myself in a situation where all forms of help are totally unavailable." Reimu quipped as she takes a short break after dispersing the swarm of Shikigami. "Its not part of my training, but I always thought it will eventually be the case..."

Genji seem satisfied upon hearing that. "Reimu, you showed as much potential as your mother. For that, I wish you good luck..."

"You know, Genji..." Reimu added, going off-topic. "...I always had a hard time understanding your archaic manner of speech. Not that I'm biased about it..." The shrine maiden trainee scratches her head, thinking of something else. "But anyway, since you don't look like you can go anywhere in this state, try to make yourself as comfortable as you can." She then walks down the path ahead, fully prepared to face anything. "I'll be back in a while."

Watching Reimu disappear down the path, Genji chuckled before declaring to himself, "Perhaps I should get myself accustomed to this new generation..."

* * *

I sure hope this PC lasts...

Anyways, this is just a filler chapter that I used to develop this incarnation of Reimu. A remake means a character with a different personality, after all.

The only reason you wouldn't know Konngara's 'underling' is Elis is that you don't even know about the PC-98 games. Thouugh there is something else I'll be raising that ZUN didn't.

So everyone who's into  _Touhou_  will know that ZUN didn't bother with establishing the western characters' exact nationalities, and even the fandom is unable to get a definite answer either. To address that problem, every single character will have an established nationality based on their characteristics or lore, starting with Elis.

Changes from canon:

Reimu's personality -  _Touhou_  Reimu is a jerkass, and I don't like jerkass protagonists. So I'm going to make  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_  Reimu somewhat caring for those around her.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords ends here._


	10. Trainee and Apprentice

We're almost at the end of the  _Highly Responsive To Prayers_  arc of the remake.

After Reimu's done with Konngara and Sariel, we'll then move on to the  _Story Of Eastern Wonderland_ arc.

But first, our intrepid shrine maiden trainee needs to deal with someone called Elis...

And yes, I've realized that Elis is technically encountered  _before_  Mima. But this is a fan remake, after all. So I can rearrange the bosses' positions for storyline purposes.

_Forewords ends here..._

* * *

**Fairy Forest Depth, wilderness of Gensokyo.**

At this deep into the Fairy Forest, anyone present here can no longer consider themselves to be in the outskirts of Gensokyo. At this point, they would now be in the wilderness.

Reimu already show signs of regret as she proceeded deeper into the Fairy Forest by herself.

"I feel uneasy, being so far from home..." The shrine maiden trainee commented. "And this place is giving me goose bumps..."

Several Shikigami suddenly came out of nowhere and fired a barrage of danmaku at Reimu.

She dodges the barrage by rolling out of the way, and then counterattacks with her own danmaku, taking out the group of Shikigami.

"And these things just keep on coming..." Reimu ends off the encounter with a lament. "Just how many of these things does the mastermind have, anyway?"

The sound of a branch being snapped can be heard all of a sudden.

Out of reflex, Reimu tosses an Ofuda at the direction of the sound. The Ofuda exploded in a cloud of smoke upon hitting the source of the sound.

"Wait..." Reimu quickly doubted if what she just did was necessary. "Maybe that was just a squirrel or a bird..." She takes a closer look at the spot, which by now has only a small tree stump left. "Should have taken it easy before I acted..."

Before the shrine maiden trainee can take another step, a different voice broke the relative silence of the Fairy Forest Depth.

"Of course, you should take a closer look at your target before you attack."

Reimu wasn't crept out one bit by the voice (the environment is what's creeping her out), she just calmly stood her ground (as best as she could) and demanded to the voice, "You know, your voice kind of killed off the creepiness of this place. So why don't you show yourself?"

Amusingly, the voice seemed to respond with dissatisfaction. "Well, that was anti-climatic... Not that I was planning a climatic scene in the first place."

The owner of the voice revealed herself - by landing a short distance in front of Reimu - to have purple eyes, blond hair, seems to wear a large red bow in her hair, and carries a white wand topped with a star in her left hand. She is wearing a white shirt beneath a blue vest with a red bow and a red dress with purple markings near its edges and has giant purple bat wings.

"You managed to pacify Lady Mima back there. Not bad for a trainee." The demon-like girl congratulated. "Wonder what else can you pull off?"

Reimu looked at the girl for a few seconds. "And you are...?"

"Oh, silly me!" The demon-like girl said, then taps herself in the head with her wand, which released a tiny puff of rainbow-colored smoke as she did so. "I should introduce myself first."

**Apprentice Devil of Innocence**

**Elis**

"The name's Elis, but you can call me the Apprentice Devil of Innocence." The demon-like girl - Elis - introduces herself. "But my title can be a little bit misleading. To humans, at least. Because despite being an 'apprentice', my magic is much more powerful than any mere human's." Saying that, Elis twirled her wand in confidence.

Reimu crosses her arms, still not intimidated one bit if that's what Elis planned to do. "Well, I did learn not to judge a book by its cover. But you're still really hard to tell, since you're not..." The shrine maiden trainee suddenly trailed off mid sentence.

"Not what?" Elis asked, wondering what Reimu intended to say. "I'm not human, but that definitely isn't what you're going to say."

Reimu decided to just spit it out. "You're not a Yamato - not native to the Land Of The Rising Sun."

Elis frowned upon hearing that. "Oh, I get that from the people of Makai all the time..." Now its the Apprentice Devil's turn to cross her arms. "Its like we westerners are stereotyped as having a superiority complex, and you..."

Reimu interrupts. "And we Yamato are usually stereotyped as being very polite. I get that from someone a lot." The shrine maiden trainee then tosses her gohei from one hand to the other. "And its not entirely true either, as I've met a couple of impolite Yamato in the village. So I assume there would be non-Yamato who don't think too highly of themselves."

Elis twirls her wand again. "Okay, now that the conversation has been settled, we should get back to why we met in the first place." That said, the Apprentice Devil stopped twirling her wand and pointed it at Reimu.

Remembering her current objective, Reimu grips her gohei tightly and prepares herself. "Of course, we're supposed to be fighting each other, aren't we?"

Elis kept her wand pointed at the shrine maiden trainee. "Then maybe you already knew that someone specifically wanted you to come here. I'll let you in on this: the mastermind you are looking for is right down this path, but you'll have to get through me first."

Reimu showed her confidence by pointing the tip of her gohei at Elis. "I'm ready. Are you?"

Elis responds with a wink, "Enough to let the rainbows fly."

"Then this will be interesting."

Reimu gets first strike by firing a small burst of danmaku at Elis. The Apprentice Devil raised her wings in front to shield herself from the danmaku burst.

The defense worked, but apparently not in the way Elis expected, as she still flinched when the danmaku hits her wings.

"Oh, looks like Yamato magic doesn't work the same way as western magic." Elis said as she retracted her wings. "But that works both ways too."

The Apprentice Devil makes her move. She casts a spell from her wand, which manifests as a multi-colored projectile that propelled itself toward Reimu's direction.

Seeing the spell, Reimu dodges it by rolling to the side, and sees it making contact with a tree. The spell didn't physically damage the tree in any way, but the tree was swiftly uprooted and then knocked over.

"Too many trees have been destroyed today..." Reimu hangs a figurative lamp on all the destruction she has seen in the Fairy Forest. "The fairies won't be happy about it when this is all over."

Elis kept her wand pointed at Reimu. "This is their home, after all. So let's end this as quickly as possible..."

The Apprentice Devil casts the same spell a second time, this time so sudden that Reimu couldn't possibly dodge it in time.

Instead, the shrine maiden trainee opted to try and block it with her gohei.

The power of the spell had knocked the gohei right out of her hand, with the force sending sharp pain into Reimu's hand as it happens.

"Argh!" Reimu cried out in pain, spending about ten seconds wincing before the pain fades away. "That was a very bad idea!"

Elis paused her attacks for a while. "Well, that's not part of my plan. But it still turned the duel in my favor." The Apprentice Devil prepares to cast another spell.

Reimu prevented the spell-casting by throwing an Ofuda at Elis' feet. The explosion threw up dirt and smoke that temporarily stunned the Apprentice Devil. Using this window of opportunity, Reimu turned around and went for her gohei.

What the shrine maiden trainee didn't see right away is that Elis used a different spell to disperse the smokescreen surrounding her. That happened just as Reimu went for her gohei, and she was an easy target for another one of Elis' spells at the time.

"Stop, I tell you!" Elis delivers a line as she casts another spell at Reimu.

Reimu hears the spell being casted right as she is about to scoop up her gohei from the ground. Immediately after grabbing her weapon, Reimu threw herself onto the ground to avoid being hit by the spell.

The spell flew over the shrine maiden trainee's head, and impacted the ground not too far from Reimu, throwing dirt debris high into the air.

Immediately afterwards, Reimu stood up, with her gohei in hand, and fired a burst of danmaku at Elis.

The Apprentice Devil was hit by the entire burst, with one right to the face, disorienting her.

Reimu then follows up by charging straight at Elis, prepared to deliver the knockout blow to her. Upon getting close enough, the shrine maiden trainee brought her gohei upon the Apprentice Devil's head...

...And stopped just short of smacking her right there.

Elis recovers from her disorientation just in time to see the attack that was interrupted by the attacker herself. She became confused as to why it wasn't fully executed.

Before Elis can say anything else, Reimu moves her gohei away, and slapped the Apprentice Devil to the face. "You lose~" The shrine maiden trainee added.

Elis was left figuratively hanging there. "Huh? But why? You could've just knocked me out and won the duel right away..."

Reimu points a finger at Elis. "You're an Apprentice Devil like you said, and I'm a shrine maiden trainee. We're both far from full-fledged." She then crosses her arms. "Because of that, I technically can't do anything other than just defeating you, and I also figured you don't deserve anything worse."

Hearing that, Elis crossed her arms in satisfaction. "From an apprentice to a trainee: good job." She clicks her finger afterwards. "I admit defeat. So, if you still want to meet the mastermind, I'll take you to her. Deal?"

Reimu took a moment to think about Elis' offer. Then she responds, "As long as nothing funny happens... Deal."

...

"So it seems..."

Konngara acknowledges the latest message that was brought to her by a Shikigami.

"That girl, Hakurei Reimu has just defeated my underling. She proved herself to have what it takes to confront me..."

The mysterious conspirator seems to say something in hand-sign.

"I have fully prepared myself for such an event even before it was indicated to be possible at all." Konngara replies. "With her arriving here, the final part of our plan will now be set in motion..."

Finishing her speech, the Astral Knight reached for her sword. With her right hand on the sheath, and left hand on the handle of the sword, she slowly unsheathed the weapon.

"Only a true Hakurei can hope to best me in a duel..."

* * *

And there it goes. Reimu will confront Konngara in the next chapter, and after that, Sariel will be the only one left before we move on to the  _Story Of Eastern Wonderland_ arc. I'm eagerly awaiting the updated version of our favorite mushroom-loving witch...

Secondly, I made it an objective for me to give every western character an established nationality. Starting with Elis, who I intended to portray as a Welsh based on the etymology of her name. I was originally going to have Elis chant in Welsh as she casted her spell, but eventually decided against that because the translation program on this PC (which is Lt Colonel Summers', in case you forgot) doesn't have a Welsh option, and I don't trust Google Translate at all even though it does have a Welsh option.

Thirdly, that whole "Yamato" thing mentioned in this chapter can be quite confusing to many of you. So I'll explain it as best as possible. Few of you may associate "Yamato" with Japan or anything Japanese, and you're on the right track if you thought so for this case. You see, "Yamato" in this case refers to residents of Gensokyo that are actually Japanese. Example: Hakurei Reimu is Japanese, so she's a Yamato; Elis is not Yamato, as she's obviously a westerner (Welsh in this case).

This chapter has gone a bit too long, so let's end it ASAP.

Changes from canon:

Elis' nationality - Actually, the concept of nationality is in itself a deviation from  _Touhou_ , where all western characters have no established nationality at all. Elis would be the first example of a westerner with an established nationality.

The order in which the bosses are encountered - Yes, I remember clearly that Elis is encountered before Mima, and that Reimu should've encountered Kikuri before Konngara or Sariel depending on which path she took. But here, Elis is encountered after Mima, Kikuri is skipped entirely (but don't worry, she still has a role later in the story), and Reimu would come across both Konngara and Sariel in the only path laid out here.

Shikigami as regular enemies - This one technically should've been mentioned in the previous chapter, but I forgot, so let's place it here. In none of the canon games would you ever fight those paper doll Shikigami as enemies, so I guess there is no need for further elaboration.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterwords ends here._


	11. Meet the Mastermind

Almost time to conclude the  _Highly Responsive To Prayers_  arc. After that, we can move on to the  _Story Of Eastern Wonderland_  arc.

Then  _Phantasmagoria Of Dimensional Dreams_ , and then  _Lotus Land Story_ , and finally  _Mystic Square_. In fact, once Shinki has been done with,  _Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream_  will be fully concluded, and we'll move on to a sequel that begins with the  _Embodiment Of Scarlet Devil_  arc.

I'll let you in on two little secrets: Lt Colonel Summers' favorite character is Shanghai Doll (yes, the doll), mine is Okazaki Yumemi.

_Forewords ends here._

* * *

**Fairy Forest Depth, Outskirts of Gensokyo.**

As promised following her defeat, Elis took Reimu to the spot where the mastermind behind everything would be.

Reimu is fully prepared to take on the mastermind, even though she know the duel would be a case of "trainee versus master".

Elis suddenly stopped, prompting Reimu to stop too.

"Well, looks like the mastermind personally came to see you." The Apprentice Devil said.

Not too far in front, someone slowly walked toward the duo. Calmness (as well as the lack of lighting at her spot) enveloped this individual who approach toward Reimu and Elis continued.

The individual then stopped walking.

"I'm back, Lady Konngara..." Elis greeted the individual. "I went and challenged this shrine maiden trainee like you told me to... And I lost..."

Konngara then walks out of the shadows, and then stopped right in front of Elis.

"You have done well, Elis..." She told the Apprentice Devil. "I have no further objectives for you, so you are temporarily dismissed. I request to be alone with the trainee."

Elis politely bowed to Konngara. "Will do. I'll be here whenever you call for me." With that, the Apprentice Devil took to the air and quickly disappeared from sight.

Reimu looked at the direction Elis took off toward to for a while. "For a western devil, she sure has some Yamato-styled manners..." She then turns toward Konngara. "And you must be the one behind everything I've went through today, starting with those fairies at my family's shrine."

"That is correct..." Konngara answers.

Reimu continues. "And you planned all that just to get me face-to-face with you." The shrine maiden trainee points her gohei at Konngara. "To duel with me?"

"Once again, you are correct..." Konngara answers. "I have been waiting for you, shrine maiden of Hakurei. I am impressed with how you were able to defeat all the individuals I've sent after you, including the evil spirit whose mental condition is a potential risk to everything so far..."

Reimu interrupts impatiently. "Yeah, yeah. I get your point. Mind introducing yourself first?"

"As you wish..."

And so, Konngara begins introducing herself to the shrine maiden trainee.

"I am the Astral Knight - Konngara. For many years, I have watched you in secrecy, observed what you are and will be capable. I have been waiting for this day, when you prove yourself to have what it takes to be true Hakurei. I needed to see your capabilities firsthand, and that is why I drew you here..."

Reimu's expression remain unchanged as she hears the Astral Knight's self-introduction and such. "This is the third time I heard such a self-introduction, and I quickly got used to it..." She then gets herself into a battle stance. "But, you were looking to have a battle with me, right? So the sooner we finish this, the better."

Konngara, left hand holding her sword, raises it in front of her. "It may have been decades since I last engaged someone in battle, but despite the possible decline of my capabilities, I am not an opponent to be underestimated..." The Astral Knight's sword begins to radiate a powerful magical aura. "If you wish to finish what I started in a haste, I will comply."

As that is said, Konngara swiftly stabbed her sword into the ground. Following that, a spell circle materialized under the Astral Knight, and glowed intensely.

"I expect you to fight at your full potential. As such, I will not go easy on you."

Konngara raises her sword once again, this time the magical aura it radiates is so bright and in such a large amount that anything it shines on casted a shadow. Then with a forward thrust of the sword, Konngara releases the magical aura as a projectile at Reimu's direction.

Seeing the projectile approaching her, Reimu leaned to the side to avoid being hit. After the projectile has passed by her, it continued on its trajectory until it hits a boulder, wherein an explosion obliterated it into a shower of miniscule pieces.

Reimu didn't even need to look at the explosion to know just how powerful that attack was. "Well, I won't go easy on you, either."

The shrine maiden trainee begins with a barrage of danmaku fired at the Astral Knight, who blocks the entire barrage with her sword and supernatural reflex.

Konngara then responds with another magical aura released from her sword. This one is released as Konngara swung her sword in a horizontal axis, making it cover a wider area as it approaches Reimu.

Reimu dodges the wide aura by crouching, then after it has passed, she counters by throwing several Ofuda at once at Konngara.

The Astral Knight defends herself against the attack by vertically slashing the space directly in front of her, which somehow spawns a magical barrier that blocked the Ofuda and absorbed the explosions.

"I expected more from you, Hakurei..." Konngara paused for a brief moment. "Don't disappoint me..."

"Less is more." Reimu also paused briefly to respond. "Or so some people in the village says..." The shrine maiden trainee then produces the Ying-Yang Orb (the same one she defeated the Doom Fairy with) from her inventory. "But I won't disappoint you."

Reimu then resumes the battle by throwing the magic-imbued Ying-Yang Orb at Konngara with all her might.

Konngara deflects the Ying-Yang Orb with a horizontal slash, albeit with some effort as the Astral Knight stumbled a few steps backwards after the deflecting.

"That wasn't even one of my stronger attacks." Reimu noted how Konngara struggled to deflect the Ying-Yang Orb. "I guess you were right, decades of idling have ate away some of your presumed skills."

Konngara steadies herself. "You guessed correctly. However, you cannot rely on only one type of attack, as I am about to demonstrate..."

As soon as she finishes that sentence, Konngara raised her sword and made a high-speed dash toward Reimu. The purpose of this attack is very clear.

Reimu's eyes went wide when she sees the Astral Knight approaching her with her sword raised. As there is no dodging this attack, the shrine maiden trainee raised her gohei to try and block the incoming sword slash.

Konngara bought her sword upon Reimu who, surprisingly, is able to block the blade with her gohei. Although Reimu is the one struggling now.

Reimu struggled to hold off Konngara's sword before mustering all her strength to knock the Astral Knight back with a swing of her gohei.

Konngara staggered backwards, but quickly recovers. "Impressive..." She noted what had just happened. "Your gohei appeared to be made of wood, yet withstood such powerful attack quite well. I must admit, I've underestimated you for a moment."

"Never judge a book by its cover alone." Reimu delivers a quip as she too staggered backwards and recovers quickly. "For starters, this gohei is actually stronger than even I expected."

Then without any warning, Reimu throws several Ofuda at Konngara's direction.

Once again, Konngara slashes the space in front of her to spawn a barrier that shielded her from the explosion of the Ofuda. Only this time, Reimu have decided to release the last Ofuda a bit later, and that particular Ofuda reached Konngara right as her barrier is dispelled. Caught by surprise by the last Ofuda, the Astral Knight was blown off her feet by the ensuing explosion, sending her sliding across the ground.

Seizing this opportunity, Reimu rushed toward Konngara while she is knocked down. With her gohei raised, the shrine maiden trainee is about to bash the Astral Knight who raised her sword at the last second to block the attack...

_"Stop."_

The final blow is swiftly interrupted by a distorted voice that came out of nowhere.

Reimu withdrew her gohei as she jumped back in confusion. Konngara picked herself up from the ground, looking just as confused.

Reimu looked around for the source of the distorted voice before turning toward Konngara. "That voice doesn't even sound like an evil spirit's. What now?"

Konngara picked up the sheath of her sword from where she dropped it before answering, "I don't understand..."

That is when a third figure - emitting an aura that is downright demonic - slowly approached the duo whom had cut their duel short.

Despite the third figure being still enveloped in darkness, Konngara instantly recognized who that was.

"I never expected you to actually come here personally, or even speak with your own voice..." Konngara stoically greeted the new arrival. "...Fallen Angel Sariel..."

* * *

And that's it for the fight against Konngara, even though it was technically cut short as opposed to actually fought to the end...

Up next, Reimu will fight against Sariel the Fallen Angel as the final boss of the  _Highly Responsive To Prayers_  arc. After that, we can safely move on to the  _Story Of Eastern Wonderland_  arc and eventually finish the PC-98 games (and thus finishing  _Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream_ ).

Yeah, I'm aware that the fight seems a bit too short for a boss who's technically final boss material. But you see, this may be one of the many reason why actions are hardly ever portrayed in books. Mostly because some scenes are very difficult if not outright impossible to describe with words.

Oh, yeah. I realized that I haven't made any references to other works yet (other than the "And that, as they say, is that" at the end of every chapter's Afterwords). Seems that it is also the case with Lt Colonel Summers' latest submitted chapters to his stories. I guess that there is just less and less reason to make references once your writing skills became intermediate (Summers took 3 years to become so while I simply picked it up from him).

Changes from canon:

Meeting Konngara - in  _HRtP_ , Reimu just moved straight to where Konngara was after beating up Elis. Here, Elis led Reimu to where Konngara was, as promised for defeating her in battle.

Suddenly, Sariel - In  _HRtP_ , the game ends once you defeat Konngara or Sariel, whichever path you chose. Here, Reimu came close to defeating Konngara before the duel was interrupted by Sariel, which means Reimu has to fight Sariel  _immediately_  after Konngara.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterwords ends here._


	12. Woman Behind the Woman

And this is it...

The final battle of the  _Highly Responsive to Prayers_  arc.

Sit back and watch how it goes!

_Forewords ends here._

* * *

**Fairy Forest Depth, Outskirts of Gensokyo.**

"Fallen... Angel...?"

Reimu expressed her confusion on the arrival of a third individual called Sariel.

Konngara turned to address Sariel. "What have made you decided to break silence and interrupt the duel?"

The Fallen Angel answers,  _"This young maiden is dominating you with ease despite your best efforts. As such, I have decided that an alternate strategy is required..."_

Reimu quickly cuts in. "Alternate strategy? You two were conspiring together?"

It was Konngara who answered the shrine maiden trainee. "As a matter of fact, that is correct."

Sariel then turns toward Reimu, giving the shrine maiden trainee a case of goose pimples due to her unholy aura.

_"And you must be Hakurei Reimu, the Young Maiden Of Paradise, and the individual whose capabilities were to be tested here, today..."_

Reimu tries her best not to look afraid. "W... well, it was all part of a plan you two hatched up, wasn't it?" She then points her gohei at Sariel. "Although it looks like you're the mastermind behind the mastermind, and you conspired with Konngara to pull me all the way here, and tested my powers by sending all those minions of yours to fight me." She retracts her gohei afterwards. "Now, which one of you should I beat up first?"

Konngara was prepared to unsheathe her sword and continue the interrupted battle, but was stopped by Sariel.

 _"Konngara, you are not as powerful as you used to be."_  The Fallen Angel told the Astral Knight.  _"Perhaps I should be the one to finish what I stopped..."_

Konngara let that sink in for a while before letting go of her sword and stepping back. "Very well, Fallen Angel Sariel. May the odds be with the victor..."

Reimu steps forward, with her gohei in hand. "So, how do you plan on going with the duel?"

Sariel did not reply. Instead, the Fallen Angel summoned from thin air a demonic-looking staff that bore a gem with the same shade of blue as her dress, and stabs the base of the staff into the ground. A blanket of pitch black erupted from where Sariel stabbed her staff into, and quickly envelopes everything in the surroundings.

Reimu looked around this pitch blackness and found no signs of the original environment. Her hand met with nothing when she knelt down and reached for the ground, yet she felt like her foot are still on solid ground. The spot where Konngara was standing as she stepped out of the oncoming duel has also been replaced with nothingness, as there is no trace of the Astral Knight's aura.

"A pocket dimension...?" Reimu noted. "Read about it once in my ancestor's journal, but this is the first time I actually saw one."

At that moment, three pairs of feathery wings sprouted from Sariel's back, and that's when the Fallen Angel's unholy aura spiked beyond human comprehension.

**Incarnation Of Death**

**Sariel**

_"I am prepared for the upcoming duel..."_  Sariel announces with her distorted tone.  _"Are you?"_

Reimu gets herself ready. "After everything I've seen today, I'm pretty sure I'm more than ready. So give me all you got."

Sariel smirked.  _"Very well..."_

The Fallen Angel's staff glowed dimly for a brief moment before releasing a shockwave that travelled in all directions.

Reimu dropped cold sweat and swallowed hard when she sees the shockwave coming toward her. "Okay, I take that ba..." The shrine maiden trainee didn't get to finish her remark before the shockwave swept over her, sending her flying backwards for a very long distance before she was able to stop. "Don't give me all you got..." She finishes her sentence.

 _"It appears that you are not truly prepared to fight me..."_  Sariel said as she slowly approached Reimu.  _"However, there is no turning back now. The only way for you now is to best me in battle."_

Reimu fires a barrage of danmaku at Sariel, followed by a handful of Ofuda. The barrage of danmaku and Ofuda hits the Fallen Angel directly... but fails to do anything to her even though she herself isn't doing anything about it either.

 _"...And doing so requires more than simple attacks..."_  Sariel added to her speech.

Reimu shrugged at the notion that her regular attacks didn't work. "I can see that..." She took several steps back, truly intimidated by Sariel's unholy aura.

Sariel seems to notice something.  _"It appears that you are not able to fly on your own, and require your turtle to achieve flight..."_

Hearing that made Reimu drop cold sweat even more.

 _"I shall make this simple..."_  Saying that, Sariel turned her demonic staff upside down, and tapped the pocket dimension's non-corporeal ground.

With that done, cracks made of light began to spread out quickly from where Sariel's staff tapped the non-corporeal ground. The cracks continued spreading all over the non-corporeal ground until the ends of the cracks are so far away they could no longer be seen.

That is then followed by the non-corporeal ground shattering, sending (also) non-corporeal shards flying at every direction before they all faded within one second of the shattering.

Because there literally isn't any ground to stand on now, Reimu now finds herself free-falling with no way to get out of her current situation. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING MEEEEEEEEEE!" She cried out while falling deeper into the abyss.

Sariel, who is able to fly, watched as she hovered at the same spot.

 _"What a shame..."_  The Fallen Angel remarked.  _"I expected more of this young maiden..."_

...

_"Hm...?"_

Something made Sariel put her attention back on Reimu.

And there she is, the shrine maiden trainee appears to have stopped falling, and is slowly rising back up.

It took a while before Reimu got back to the same elevation as Sariel. The shrine maiden trainee is panting heavily, possibly due to the shock from the uncontrolled free-fall earlier.

"It took me a while, but guess what?" Reimu, still panting heavily, taunted Sariel while holding her gohei tightly. "I happened to learn how to fly just now. Good timing for me, bad timing for you..."

Sariel doesn't seem to be surprised one bit by the sudden turn of events.  _"So you have just even out the odds. The battle will now be interesting..."_

Reimu then thrusts her gohei straight at the Fallen Angel, but stopped just short of her face. "So I can kick yo... beat you up for putting me against everything I've seen today!" Finishing her line, the shrine maiden trainee withdrew her gohei, and immediately slaps an Ofuda onto Sariel.

This Ofuda immediately burns up without bringing any harm to the Fallen Angel.

 _"As I have said, you require more than simple attacks..."_  Sariel said, before she raises her demonic staff high to fire off another all-directional shockwave.

This time, Reimu knows what to expect, and backed away from Sariel and the expanding shockwave until the shockwave has reached its range limit and stopped expanding, after which it dissipates.

"My turn." Reimu quipped, and then begins firing more danmaku as she strafes around Sariel.

As with before, the danmaku aren't having any effect on the Fallen Angel.

Having nothing to say, Sariel begins her own series of attacks, starting with her casting a spell that summoned forth several glowing orbs that orbits around her...

...That then shoots laser beams at Reimu, after which the orbs fade away.

Reimu dodges the laser beams, but a few still managed to graze her. Although these beams did not inflict any physical damage, they still sting a lot.

The shrine maiden trainee counters with several Ofuda, followed by throwing the Ying-Yang Orb at Sariel.

The explosions of the Ofuda did nothing to the Fallen Angel, while the Ying-Yang Orb bounced right off without making contact with her.

 _"This is your full capability, and yet you are unable to do even the slightest harm to me?"_  Sariel said.  _"How pathetic, despite your making the duel more interesting than before..."_

"Yeah, I'm working on it..." Reimu replies with sarcasm as she dodges another series of laser beam that are fired at her by additional glowing orbs.

It is then that the shrine maiden noticed that, following her previous Ofuda barrage, the gemstone on Sariel's staff had a hairline fracture inflicted upon it.

Seeing the hairline fracture, Reimu held on to her gohei tighter as she comes up with a strategy. "...And I just finished working on it."

The shrine maiden trainee then launches herself into a higher elevation just in time to avoid a large cluster of laser beam orbs that suddenly appeared.

 _"As I have said before, there is no escaping from me."_  Saying that, Sariel then raises her staff up, summoning a huge energy orb which she then launches at Reimu.

Seeing the huge energy orb approaching her, Reimu allowed it to slowly close in on her before performing a backflip at the last second to let it fly past her.

And then it turns out that the huge energy orb is a homing projectile, as demonstrated by it turning around to continue pursuing the shrine maiden trainee.

"Life is full of surprises..." Reimu remarked about it. She then begins her angled high-speed descend downwards...

...Straight toward Sariel.

 _"What are you planning, I wonder?"_  Sariel said as she watched Reimu descending toward her.  _"This does not matter..."_  The Fallen Angel calls forth another cluster of laser beam orbs.

Reimu barely manages to dodge the beams because she has to maintain her speed to avoid being caught up by the huge energy orb, and was grazed on several spots on her body. "This stings a lot!"

At this point, Reimu sees that she is getting close enough to Sariel to execute the strategy she came up with. But at the same time, she also noticed that the huge energy orb is about to catch up with her.

It's now or never...

And so, Reimu drew out her gohei, and pointed its tip straight ahead of her current trajectory. The shrine maiden trainee has one specific target in mind: the gemstone on Sariel's staff.

"Time for this Fallen Angel to fall further!"

Its only at this distance that Sariel finally notices what Reimu is targeting. Acting on instinct and reflex, the Fallen Angel held her staff in front with both of her hands in an attempt to cast her most powerful attack.

But she was a bit too late. Before Sariel can finish casting her attack, Reimu lands her finishing move in the form of a high-velocity thrust of her gohei into the gemstone on the Fallen Angel's staff.

A blinding flash occurred at the instance the tip of Reimu's gohei made contact with the gemstone, with the huge energy orb practically touching the shrine maiden trainee's feet...

* * *

Well, well. What do we have here? A Cliffhanger?

If you want to know how this turns out, then stay tuned for the next chapter of  _Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream_! Although I believe you'd have guessed the outcome already...

So how did Reimu suddenly learn to fly on her own? Well, that will be fully answered in the next chapter, where the  _Highly Responsive To Prayers_  arc concludes for real.

Changes from canon:

Sariel's gender(?) - In  _Highly Responsive To Prayers_ , Sariel was drawn in an androgynous (gender neutral) way so nobody was sure what gender she really is. The only reason everyone calls her a female is because  _Touhou_  quickly became a franchise of almost-entirely-female cast.

The battle against Sariel (and every battle in this story, to be frank) - In general gameplay, you would've just whaled on the bosses and dodged their attacks until they are KO'd. Here, blindly attacking a boss isn't as effective as it was in the canon games, and Reimu had to resort to planning strategies.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords ends here._


	13. Highly Responsive to Prayers

Sorry for the three weeks delay, the PC broke down and had to be sent to the repair yard. Lt Colonel Summers would've mentioned the PC breaking down in his profile, because we both use the same PC to access FanFiction.

Anyways, no action scenes in this chapter, because it is technically the epilogue of a story arc, anyway.

Just sit back and read exactly how the  _Highly Responsive To Prayers_  arc ends!

_Forewords ends here._

* * *

**Fairy Forest Depth, outskirts of Gensokyo.**

Everything appeared to be silent.

Konngara tried to resume her abruptly interrupted duel with Hakurei Reimu, but was stopped by Sariel the Fallen Angel who then conjures, from Konngara's point of view, a dark bubble with a distorted spherical shape that enveloped both the shrine maiden trainee and the Fallen Angel.

Nothing emerged from the distorted bubble. No light, no wind, no magical aura, no physical objects, no sounds...

As time ticked by, the Astral Knight slowly became impatient. Has Sariel planned out something she was not told about? Did the Fallen Angel perhaps foresaw the Astral Knight's defeat at the hands of Hakurei Reimu? How will the shrine maiden trainee do against Sariel?

It was at that moment that the distorted bubble disintegrated, exposing both Sariel and Reimu back into the real world.

No part of Reimu's body is touching the ground. The shrine maiden trainee seems to have dived toward Sariel from a high elevation, the tip of her gohei touching the gemstone on the tip of the Fallen Angel's staff... or rather, where the gemstone should've been, because that very spot is now vacant.

This scene is soon followed by an explosion of pure light that spread toward every direction from the tip of Sariel's staff. The blast of light had no physical effects whatsoever on the surroundings.

Reimu somersaulted backwards and landed on the ground on her feet.

Sariel then kneels down on the ground, while still holding onto her damaged staff.  _"You have done well, shrine maiden. And for that, I admit defeat..."_

Reimu dusted herself clean of dust before answering, "You're not too bad yourself, either. Guess you're not hyperboling about what you are." The shrine maiden trainee then turns toward Konngara. "As for you... I need some questions answered."

Konngara dropped her sword onto the ground, sheath included. "You lived up to our expectations, coming this far..." The Astral Knight said with satisfaction. "I too admit defeat. And with that, you shall get the answers you demanded..."

Reimu crosses her arms, while still holding her gohei tightly in her right hand. "Go ahead, I'm listening. From the beginning, please."

Konngara then begins explaining everything to Reimu.

"It all began two decades ago, when an individual gave me the task to have your abilities tested on this day. I, alongside Sariel, have spent those years planning for this day, gathering the likes of Shingyoku and Yuugen-Magan for assistance. We took a risk with involving the mentally unstable Mima in this. We have also decided to invoke a case of cultural difference by introducing Elis into the test. On this day, the plan is executed, and I am satisfied with the outcome. It is the unfortunate truth that by now, the individual who gave me the task is no longer in the realm of the living..."

Not satisfied with the answer yet, Reimu put her hands on her hip, and added, "There is still one thing that needs to be answered: who gave you this task?"

Konngara gave a very straightforward answer: "The woman who birthed you."

Reimu's expression changed as her hands slid off her hip. "My mother...?"

"However..." Konngara continued. "I never knew what her true intentions was, as she left immediately after giving me the task. With her passing on, I will never be able to obtain the answer for this question."

Reimu let what she was told to sink in for a few seconds. "Then... Did she leave behind anything for me? A message, perhaps?"

Konngara pointed at the shrine maiden trainee's gohei. "If she did, I believe you are holding it in your hand."

Reimu lifted up her gohei and looked at it. "Duty as Hakurei shrine maiden...?"

Her thoughts are then interrupted by another voice calling out to her.

"Reimu!" Genji the flying turtle called out as he approached the shrine maiden trainee while hovering an inch above ground. "I came here as quickly as I can upon sensing a burst of magical aura..."

"Its okay, Genji..." Reimu told the flying turtle. "For whatever reason I went through everything today, its all over... I think."

Sariel stood up again, and said,  _"Everything planned for you today is over. But you still have a long and uncertain path ahead of you."_  The Fallen Angel dispels her damaged staff before continuing,  _"Anything could happen in the future, and only fate can determine what it will be..."_

Reimu interrupts. "I get it. Anything could happen in the future. So, are we done here?"

Konngara took a step forward. "As the test meant for you have been fully concluded, you may take your leave when ready."

Reimu puts her gohei away and said, "Well, then. I'll be leaving now." The shrine maiden trainee turns around as she prepares to depart. "By the way, if either of you decides to stir up trouble again... Let's just say that as a Hakurei shrine maiden, I won't be so forgiving anymore."

Sariel responds,  _"You have my word."_

Konngara also responds, "As do I."

Reimu, satisfied with the answers, turned toward Genji and told him, "Come on, old turtle. We're going home."

That said, the shrine maiden trainee took off into the air by herself.

Genji was surprised by Reimu flying on her own. "Reimu, since when did you learn to..."

Reimu interrupts the flying turtle. "Long story. Are you coming or not?"

Genji sighed once. "Youngsters..." He then takes to the air and follows Reimu. "Perhaps you should consider paying attention to the direction you are flying towards..." He suddenly added.

Reimu looked back at Genji, without turning her whole body around. "Why?"

But before the shrine maiden trainee can get an answer, something solid slammed straight into her face. That solid object turned out to be a fairy.

Even Genji winced at the scene as he looked away.

"Pichun~!" Reimu verbally exclaimed before she collapses and falls into the canopy of a large tree.

Back below, Sariel had a slight chuckle at the amusing scene.  _"As I was saying... Anything could happen..."_

Konngara also smiled a little bit at the same scene. "Indeed..."

The Fallen Angel and Astral Knight are suddenly joined by more individuals, respectively Yuugen-Magan, Mima and Elis (Shingyoku is also present, but is not considered an "individual" due to lacking a humanoid form).

 _"I believe you may have forgotten something..."_  Yuugen-Magan, speaking with her static-filled voice, gave Konngara a reminder.

"You promised those children something, after all..." Mima added, this time speaking with a normal human voice.

"And these particular little fellows don't take broken promises too well, master." Elis also added.

It took a while for Konngara to get what those three are talking about. By that time, it was already too late.

The Fairy Forest's resident fairies, seeing that the whole incident has ended, returned in swarms, and surrounded Konngara from all directions.

"Hey, miss! Where's the reward you promised?!" The fairies demanded. "You better have something to make up for everything we've done for you today!"

The Astral Knight now found herself helpless against the demanding fairies. She found herself regretting getting the fairies involved into everything that have happened so far, and let out a sigh in disbelief.

...

While the fairies continued pestering Konngara for what they were promised, Sariel stood aside by herself, as Mima and the others have also taken their leave.

"That girl, Hakurei Reimu..." A voice suddenly spoke to Sariel. "She is the first ever mortal to defeat you, no?"

 _"True..."_  The Fallen Angel answered.  _"But I have no regrets."_

"Are you sure?" The voice asked another question.

 _"The humans have such a saying..."_  Sariel follows with a response.  _"'From failure, you learn many valuable lessons. From success, there are very little to learn."_

"So you consider your defeat as a failure?" The voice asked.

 _"I consider it as both a success and a failure."_  Sariel said, and then follows with an explanation.  _"Failure in that I allowed myself to be defeated in battle. Success in that I have learned about the behaviors of the current generation."_

"Current generation?" The voice wondered.

_"This is something you should know, Kukuri. Everything can evolve to become greater. Life, consciousness, knowledge, society... There was a time when humans feared everything they considered to be supernatural, such as us. Their first instinct upon encountering these supernatural elements were to attack, perhaps eliminate it from existence. But today, human society has split into two similar but distinctively different forms: one that dismisses the supernatural as fictitious elements, another that came to accept its existence if not ally with it..."_

Sariel then looked at the sky. An opening in the forest canopy revealed the position of the full moon.

_"Perhaps there will be a time when humans and supernatural beings can coexist, by means of what is known in the other world as 'diplomacy'..."_

* * *

And that concludes the  _Highly Responsive to Prayers_ arc!

So next time, we'll continue Hakurei Reimu's adventures in Gensokyo in the  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_  arc.

By the way, you might have noticed that I wrote Reimu's full name as  **Hakurei Reimu**  - in the Japanese order, as opposed to  **Reimu Hakurei**  - the canonically agreed-upon Western order. I used the former because the latter is technically you westerners (I'm South-East Asian) forcing your method onto another culture, which some Asians disliked. I'm going to do the same with the other Japanese characters' names.

Differences from canon:

Reimu exclaiming "Pichun~!" - You might know "Pichu~un" as the infamous "KO'd" sound effect in the games. But here, I turned it into something that Reimu verbally utters upon being KO'd by something.

Kikuri's role - In  _HRtP_ , Kikuri is also a boss that you will have to fight along the way. Here, Kikuri is demoted into an action-less extra for reasons that can't be described with words.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords ends here._


	14. Challenge From Reimaden

Well, folks, with the  _Highly Responsive to Prayers_  arc concluded, its time for us to move on to the  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_  arc.

Thank you for reading this fan remake. So sit back and enjoy!

_Forewords ends here._

* * *

**Hakurei Shrine, Gensokyo.**

A month has passed since Hakurei Reimu has beaten Konngara and Sariel in duels...

The shrine maiden trainee returned to the shrine she called home, and life was back as usual for Reimu.

At the moment, though, Reimu is not at home when Konngara decided to suddenly drop by the Hakurei Shrine.

"Not here?" Konngara said. "Perhaps I've chose a wrong time to visit..." Saying that, the Astral Knight approached the shrine porch, and sat down in front of the donation box. "Doesn't matter. I can wait for her return..."

And so, Konngara waited for Reimu to come home. Time passed minute after minute, and there was still no signs of the shrine maiden trainee.

"You again?" Genji suddenly popped out from behind the shrine. "For what reason did you come here in person, Konngara- _dono_?"

Konngara turned toward the flying turtle, then back at the shrine's Torii gate. "That girl is still undergoing training, even if she had bested me and Sariel in battle."

Genji positioned himself next to the donation box. "And so you have decided to make certain of her progress, by coming to see her in person."

"Her absence at the moment is not to be expected..." Konngara added.

It is then that the Astral Knight has her attention drawn on something. Something that disturbed the peace and tranquility. Something that scared the birds and fairies of the surrounding forest enough to make then take to the air. Something not quite natural. Something approaching the shrine by ground...

Something large and heavy enough as to create a localized tremor as it strode toward the Hakurei Shrine.

The occurrence immediately made Konngara stand up and draw out her sword. "Something is approaching. It is not releasing any magical aura, but it is headed for the shrine with sinister intent..."

Konngara and Genji looked around the shrine for whatever that may have the sinister intent the former sensed as well as the localized tremor that became increasingly stronger with each passing second.

The tremors soon died out. For the moment, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The scenery around the Hakurei Shrine remained as usual...

"I do believe that there wasn't a large bush under the Torii a moment ago..." Genji pointed out about something extra that suddenly appeared.

Konngara also noticed the large bush. "You are correct. Bushes cannot move on their own. Perhaps something is using the bush as..."

Before the Astral Knight can finish her analysis, a loud boom erupted directly in front of the large bush, followed by a large explosion that blew the Hakurei Shrine into pieces, and launching both Konngara and Genji against the shrine courtyard.

"Maybe a bit too much pyrotechnics..." The voice of a young girl can be heard saying before Konngara passed out. "Oh well. I'll just leave this letter here and be going,  _nanodesu~_ "

...

Hakurei Reimu, having just returned from her weekly grocery shopping in the village found the shrine she called home in several pieces. She also found Genji upside down, and Konngara lying face-down on the shrine courtyard, both the flying turtle and the Astral Knight are unconscious.

The shrine maiden trainee dropped her grocery bag at the Torii gate, rushing forward and flipping Genji right side up. "What happened, Genji?"

The flying turtle slowly comes to his senses. "Uh... Reimu, someone... came to... the shrine... and attacked us... with a powerful... weapon..."

Konngara also comes to her senses at about the same moment. "It was... some kind of... siege machine... but I... do not... recognize it..."

Reimu became furious. "Who did this?! And where did they go?!"

"I... don't know..." Genji struggles to speak.

Konngara manages to sit up with what stamina she has at the moment. "The attacker left immediately after attacking... But left behind a letter..." The Astral Knight then points at a spot directly underneath the Torii gate. "You may have placed your items on it..."

Reimu turned back and lifted up the bag of groceries she had hastily dropped upon arriving home. Just as Konngara said, there is indeed a letter.

The shrine maiden trainee picked up the letter and unfolded it, then begins reading through its contents.

_"I am waiting for you, my dear Reimu, and I know you want to punish whoever destroyed your shrine. You will find your answer in Reimaden, directly due northwest of your shrine."_

"This girl... Will her mindset grow beyond that of her mother's"

* * *

Well, guys, I got some news for you.

Lt Colonel Summers might've said in his profile that he'll starting college by next week. Well, truth is, I'm going to the same college, and in the same classroom too. That means I can't update when Summers can't, because we'll be in class together at the same time.

Anyways, I'll try to update this story as much as college life allows me to.

Changes from canon:

Beginning of this arc: In  _Story Of Eastern Wonderland_ , Reimu returns to the Hakurei Shrine to find it under attack by monsters. Here, the sole attacker - probably Rika, judging by her usage of " _Nanodesu~_ " - has already left when Reimu came back. Not only that, Konngara also isn't in  _SoEW_.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords ends here._


	15. Into the Surprising

In hindsight, the Forewords section seemed a bit unnecessary. Since the latest news are usually in the Afterwords section instead.

So this chapter will be the last one with a Forewords section. The rest of the chapters will leave all news updates in the Afterwords section.

This will be the final Forewords section.

_Forewords ends here._

* * *

**Northeastern Forest, Gensokyo.**

It was the number one fact in Gensokyo that fairies often form a large group to pick fights with humans, usually bringing along several Kedama they have tamed.

It was no exception this time.

While she was on her way toward Reimaden which the challenge letter specified, Reimu ran into a group of fairies whom attacked her on instinct, except these fairies don't seem to have any tamed Kedama with them.

Nevertheless, Reimu easily deals with the fairies, sending the rest of them scampering away.

"I don't like fairies..." The shrine maiden trainee said. "They may be weak and fragile, but there's just so many of them, it will be a surprise if they are completely absent from anywhere..."

"However, these little fellows will exist so long as nature does." Genji told her. "To make them cease to exist is to eliminate nature completely."

Reimu sighed. "But this isn't the Fairy Forest. I expected this area to have much less fairies..."

The shrine maiden trainee then thought of something.

"But of course, I've learned from last month that it isn't above some individuals to use fairies as minions." Reimu noted what she knows. "Which means whoever sent me that challenge isn't lying about their location, after all."

Genji nodded for a bit. "All that just from how these bunch of fairies attacked you..."

At that moment, one last fairy charged toward Reimu from behind, and was about to club the shrine maiden trainee on the head with a tree branch she could barely lift up...

...Then Reimu quickly turns around and used her gohei to bat the fairy away like a ball.

"Besides, some people don't play fair, so you need to be on alert at all times." Reimu delivers a one-liner.

...

**Deeper within the Northeastern Forest.**

Strange contraptions have been set up at every corner in the Northeastern Forest, as though whoever built them is expecting someone or something to come.

Working on one of these contraptions is a girl with brown eyes, long brown hair in two braids, and wears a white shirt with a purple bow beneath its collar. She fastened the contraption to the ground before covering it with a bush.

"Are you done with everything I told you to do?" A mysterious voice said to her.

The girl turned around to face whoever is speaking to her, and answers, "I will be in about a minute,  _nanodesu~_ "

"Good..." The mysterious voice said. "I want to see just how much that girl has improved before I fight her a second time."

"I, Rika, will not disappoint you with my machines,  _nanodesu~_!" The girl reassured, before she goes back to working on the contraption.

...

**Northeastern Forest.**

"This is new..."

Reimu commented upon coming across a wooden sign that said  _"No fairies beyond this point! Ever!"_

The shrine maiden trainee turns around and asks Genji. "What do you make of this?"

Genji the flying turtle approached the sign and looked very closely at it. "It is written impetuously, I might say. But this is not a fairy's handwriting..."

Reimu took a second look at the sign. "Written with as much impetuousness as a fairy, but not written by fairies in any way?"

Genji looks at Reimu. "That appears to be the case..."

Reimu moved closer to the sign. "Then  _why_  bother forbidding fairies from entering a part of their own home? That's like..." Saying that, the shrine maiden trainee proceeds to kick the sign down.

As soon as she does, though, something suddenly popped out from behind the sign and...

Startled to the point of having every single strand of hair on her head figuratively stand up, Reimu immediately makes a physical counterattack by bashing the thing with her gohei.

The thing disappeared in a puff of smoke upon being bashed.

Reimu quickly recovers from being startled. "Wh...what the heck was that?!"

"It appears to be some form of ghost wearing a strange grin, with its tongue sticking out..." Genji said, recalling what he saw for only a second. "I have never seen such a being before..."

Reimu went wide-eyed upon hearing that. "You've never seen it before?"

Genji shook his head. "That is because the ghost just now... is an artificial being..."

Reimu's eye went even wider. "Artificial... as in, someone created it?"

Genji nods. "Yes. And judging by how little magic it emits, perhaps only an hour ago..."

Reimu held on to her gohei tighter. "So you're saying that someone decided to challenge me on the fly, and didn't..."

Before the shrine maiden trainee can finish her sentence, several more of these strange-looking ghosts appeared from all directions without warning.

Reimu sighed once. "And this is what a full-fledged shrine maiden has to go through on a regular basis...?"

* * *

Well, what do you know? College life does indeed suck!

This chapter was delayed for a week because I got busy with college stuff. And that's only the first two weeks...

Oh well, this is real life. College is unavoidable for someone my age, anyway.

Wish me luck in college... And sorry in advance for any future delays caused by college life...

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterwords ends here._


	16. Anachronistic Weapon

**Northeastern Forest, wilderness of Gensokyo.**

"These things just won't stop coming!"

Reimu complained as she fires danmaku at the strange ghosts, one after another. These strange ghosts aren't very tough, as a single danmaku is enough to defeat them.

Yet, more of these strange ghosts would take the place of their fallen comrades almost instantly, and endlessly.

"Literally!" Reimu added, while trying to keep the approaching strange ghosts at bay by firing one danmaku after another at them.

Many of the danmaku fired by the shrine maiden trainee flew past the growing swarm of strange ghosts and hit objects in the surrounding, such as bushes, trees, rocks...

...And something metallic under one such bush where the strange ghosts seem to keep coming out of.

Reimu did not notice the metallic sound, as she continues firing danmaku at the relentless swarm of strange ghosts.

"Seriously, this is never going to end!" In desperation, the shrine maiden trainee pulled out her Ying-Yang Orb and launched it at the swarm.

The Ying-Yang Orb plowed through the swarm of strange ghost and took out any that came in direct contact with it.

The Orb continued plowing through the swarm until it crashes into the very same bush where the metallic sound from earlier came out of, wherein it caused an explosion that launched debris all over the place.

Strangely enough, the explosion also caused all the strange ghosts to fade out of existence at once, even the ones that are nowhere near it.

"What... just happened?" Reimu became utterly confused as she collects the Ying-Yang Orb when it flew back to her.

One of the debris from the explosion slid across the ground and came to a halt at just a few inches away from Genji's face.

Genji took a close look at the piece of debris. "This piece of metal was polished by a hand..." The flying turtle said. "Someone else was here moments ago..."

Reimu picked up that piece of debris and looked at it as well. "No magic..." The shrine maiden trainee commented. "Whoever made this thing made it with just raw strength and knowledge." She then throws the piece aside. "Looks like whoever's behind this isn't alone..."

...

"Darn! She destroyed the generator!

Should have put more armor on it!

Oh well, I have only myself to blame for that mistake,  _nanodesu~_

Guess its time for me to go face-to-face with her..."

...

"Hm?" Something had suddenly caught Reimu's attention.

"What is it...?" Genji noticed and asked the shrine maiden trainee.

"Did you feel that?" Reimu replies. "Feels like the ground is shaking very weakly. And then there's the strange sound too."

The two silenced themselves for a short while and listened closely.

"I feel it..." Genji confirms it. "This is the same weak tremor and strange sound that came before the attack on the shrine..."

Reimu took note of what she heard. "The same one that came before the attack?"

A few seconds later, that strange sound is followed by the sound of trees being knocked over and mangled by something.

"Yes..." Genji answers Reimu worriedly. "A kind of siege machine I am unfamiliar with..."

Knowing that a fight is imminent, Reimu held on to her gohei as she prepares herself.  _What_  she will actually be fighting is an entirely different matter at this point.

Within moments, the increase in intensity of the localized tremor, and the volume of the strange sound indicate that whatever is causing them is very close. The origin of the tremors and sounds soon reveals itself by knocking a tall tree over as it came through.

"What is that?"

"I do not know, Reimu..."

What Reimu and Genji see before them right now is best described as what appears to be the miniaturized mockup of a Shinto shrine building sitting on top of a metal platform, with a long metal tube extending from the mockup shrine.

The roof portion of the mockup shrine flipped open, and out came a brown-haired girl.

"You must be the shrine maiden trainee that my employer talked about,  _nanodesu~_ " The girl said. "For someone with a bland sense of fashion, you did pretty well against my legion of Bake-Bake, even destroying the Generator..."

Despite the girl's obvious boasting, Reimu is not amused one bit, and neither is Genji (though the latter might've been due to his lack of understanding on the subject).

"So those strange ghosts back there are called Bake-Bake, and they were your creation?" Reimu responds with a bored tone as she crosses her hands.

The girl is disappointed by the shrine maiden trainee's response. "Ugh. So much for claiming responsibility,  _nanodesu~_ " She sighed once. "Never mind that. I have one more trick up my sleeve..." Saying that, the girl descended back into her strange siege machine, closing the "roof" as she does so.

The long metal tube of the siege machine tilted up, followed by an ear-deafening bang erupting from it, which is then followed by an explosion that threw dust high into the air and rocked the ground.

Both the ear-deafening bang and the explosion that followed it are loud enough that Reimu shielded her ears with her hands. As Genji has no ears to cover, the flying turtle response is to retract his head and four legs into his shell.

The brown-haired girl then reemerges from her siege machine. "You see this?" She boasted again as she points a finger at her siege machine. "This is what I call... a tank." She then laughs boastfully. "I heard this is one of the most powerful siege machines from the other world,  _nanodesu~_ "

Reimu turned around to look at the crater left behind by the explosion, then back at the brown-haired girl and her siege machine - which she referred to as a tank. "Well, I do admit that your toy here did some impressive damage." The shrine maiden trainee said. "But..."

Without any warning, Reimu pulled out and threw three Ofuda at the girl's tank. Just those three Ofuda were enough to completely destroy the tank, with the explosion launching the brown-haired girl several feet away from her siege machine.

" _Nanodesu_!" The girl cried out as the blast launched her straight into a tree.

Reimu took this opportunity to give the girl the pointer finger. "...Impressive attack is worthless without impressive defense to back it up!"

Seeing that her tank just got destroyed in less than a minute, the girl began to throw a tantrum. "You will remember the time you messed with Rika!" With that, she got up and made a run for the deeper parts of the forest.

Reimu crossed her arms and shook her head. "Rika, huh? What a spoiled brat..." The shrine maiden trainee then turns toward Genji. "You can come out now, old turtle. That girl's gone, and her toy is no more."

Genji poked his head out of his shell.

Reimu sighs once. "For something that's supposed to be my mentor, you're quite the coward when it comes to very loud things."

Genji emerges from his shell. "Times have changed, Reimu. What mundane humans lacked in, they make up for with their intellect, as demonstrated with that girl and her siege machine..."

Reimu snaps her fingers once. "Then I'll just have to make up for it with more firepower." That said, the shrine maiden trainee then continues with her trek through the forest. "Come on, Genji..."

...

Later into the trek...

Reimu followed the footprints that the brown-haired girl - Rika had left behind. It wasn't very far until Reimu notes that her footprints were replaced by strange grooves on the ground heading toward the same direction.

"Looks like the same one that her toy left behind..." The shrine maiden trainee notes. "That means she probably has a second toy laying around here somewhere."

Just then, a Bake-Bake suddenly popped out of nowhere and tried to attack Reimu with its ghostly tongue.

This time, Reimu isn't as surprised by the sudden ambush due to having prior experience with these strange ghosts. The shrine maiden trainee easily takes out the Bake-Bake by stabbing her gohei through it, causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke.

More Bake-Bake soon made their presence known by attacking en masse.

"Great, more of these annoying things..." Reimu complained. "When I meet that brown-haired girl, I an so going to beat her up for everything she put me through..."

* * *

Like I said in the previous chapter, I'm doing away the Forewords section, and will now be devoting all OOC topics to the Afterwords section.

Anyways, we're reintroduced to Rika - the first science-minded girl in the entire  _Touhou_  series. This encounter technically isn't a battle, just to demonstrate what the  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_  version of Rika can do with her engineering skills. Rika will be fought as a true boss in a later chapter, but don't forget we still have the Five Magic Stones and Meira, along with those two nameless mid-bosses that are respectively nicknamed Noroiko and Matenshi.

In case you're wondering about this, it only seemed logical for a medieval person to see a modern tank as some kind of siege machines. After all, tanks are first fielded in World War 1 as siege weapons, before their 21st century incarnation got relegated as hold-the-line defense weapons.

And now, for the changes from canon:

This entire chapter in general -  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_  simply tells us that Rika apparently created those Bake-Bake and Evil Eyes, with no elaboration on how she did so. The Shrine Tank, although not named in this chapter, is supposed to be a tank that can withstand lots of pounding. In here, I simplified the former discrepancy by having Rika build Generators that produced the Bake-Bake, but I plan to have the Evil Eyes be created by the antagonist of the  _SoEW_  arc which all of you should know the identity of. As for why the Shrine Tank lasted only a mere small paragraph... well, Reality Ensues by the fact that the main cannon is the Shrine Tank's  _only_  weapon (when real tanks have machine guns as secondary weapons) that takes too long to reload, and the  _complete_  lack of anything even resembling armor plating on the turret makes it pretty fragile.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords ends here._


	17. Anachronistic Engineer

**Northeastern Forest, wilderness of Gensokyo.**

It took a lot of effort and a long while plus a ton of danmaku, but Reimu was able to eventually overcome the huge swarm of Bake-Bake and take out the Generators by throwing several Ofuda at them.

"Genji..." The shrine maiden trainee said while taking deep breaths from being exhausted. "Do tell me if you sense that girl again..."

"I wish that was possible..." Genji replies. "But I sense no magic being emitted from her."

Reimu went wide-eyed. "You mean she's not a Human Magician, but an ordinary, Mundane Human?"

"I believe so..." Genji answers.

"Well, I'm still going to knock her down." Reimu said as she proceeds down the direction Rika escaped to. "Whether she fights me with magic or not."

...

It wasn't very long down the path before Reimu encountered another Generator. But as this one is set down in plain sight instead of being hidden by vegetation, Reimu is able to quickly take it out with an Ofuda before it could spawn more than one Bake-Bake.

"I guess she didn't believe I could make it this far." The shrine maiden trainee pointed out. "Because it looks like she stopped bothering to hide her toys over here."

"Or perhaps the girl may have something else prepared..." Genji raised a point.

Before anything else is said, the same localized tremor is felt, and the strange sound is heard again before Rika reappears before Reimu and Genji. This time, the brown-haired girl came riding on top of a different tank that is decorated by a Ying-Yang pattern and what appeared to be tree vines.

**Anachronistic Engineer**

**Rika**

Rika points her index finger at Reimu in a boastful manner. "You wrecked my Shrine Tank, which I admit is a work-in-progress prototype. So I came back with the fully functioning Flower Tank, and I demand a rematch with you!"

Reimu was not amused by Rika's statement. "A rematch, you say? You got some loud mouth for a Mundane Human..."

Rika got impatient very quickly. "Never mind that,  _nanodesu~_ " She then retreats into the Flower Tank, and proceeds to fire a shot that obliterated a nearby boulder with a big explosion. "Do you accept my rematch or not?" Rika asked again as she reemerges from within.

Reimu turned around to see what suggestion Genji have for her, only to find that the flying turtle has once again cowered and hid inside his shell. Sighing once, the shrine maiden trainee turned back toward Rika. "Your new toy doesn't look that much different, anyway..."

Rika smiled. "I take that as a yes,  _nanodesu~_ " She points her index finger at Reimu again. "You should know, the Flower Tank is several levels above the Shrine Tank, and it is going to figuratively kick your butt!"

Reimu still doesn't take the Anachronistic Engineer's boast very seriously. Instead, she just threw out three Ofuda at the Flower Tank with a swift motion. "Get lost..." She said.

Three separate explosions went off as the three Ofuda impacted the surface of the Flower Tank. However, what surprised Reimu is the fact that the Flower Tank took little to no damage from them.

"Huh?!" Reimu exclaimed in surprise.

"You don't get it, do you?" Rika mocked the shrine maiden trainee's futile attempt. "The Flower Tank is better at every spectrum than the Shrine Tank,  _nanodesu~_ " She then starts off the battle by aiming the cannon of the Flower Tank at Reimu. "Here, have a taste of this~"

Reimu quickly took to the air before the cannon fired and blew a crater in that very spot.

"It doesn't matter if you're a magic-user or a Mundane Human..." Reimu declared as she prepares to retaliate. "You will regret ever crossing me!"

Reimu then peppers the Flower Tank with a barrage of danmaku while flanking it from the air.

All of those danmaku hits the Flower Tank directly, but none of them did any damage to it.

"My turn,  _nanodesu~_ " Rika said from inside the Flower Tank. She aims the cannon at Reimu and fires another shot.

Reimu dodges the shot, which then flew past her and tore down every tree in its way. "Okay, don't get hit by that..." The shrine maiden trainee noted to herself.

She then throws several more Ofuda at the Flower Tank. The explosions still failed to do any damage to it.

"There is no way you can defeat the Flower Tank!" Rika boasted before firing another shot.

Reimu somersaults over this shot, and then retaliates by throwing the Ying-Yang Orb straight at the Flower Tank.

Much to the surprise of the shrine maiden trainee, the Flower Tank  _also_  shrugged off a direct hit from the Ying-Yang Orb. "No way...!"

Rika can be heard laughing from inside the Flower Tank. "My employer said your Ying-Yang Orb is able to do lots of spiritual damage to all living and undead beings as well as magical constructs, right? Too bad the Flower Tank is an inanimate non-magical object,  _nanodesu~_ "

Rika readjusted the aim of the Flower Tank and was prepared to fire another shot at Reimu...

...But instead of a shot, the sound of something clunking is heard coming from the cannon.

"Oh wait... I forgot to bring extra ammunition..." The Anachronistic Engineer suddenly remembered, her tone indicating regret.

Hearing Rika's regretful tone, Reimu grinned as she pulls out a handful of Ofuda. "I don't understand what problem you have. But whatever it is, sucks to be you."

With that said, Reimu proceeds to throw the entire handful of Ofuda at the Flower Tank, this time the throw is angled so the Ofuda travels down the barrel of the cannon.

BOOM! The Ofuda exploded inside the Flower Tank, inflicting crippling damage to it, but not before Rika escapes from the Flower Tank by somehow ejecting from the back of the tank in a smaller contraption that appeared to simply be a metallic frame with wheels and some components Reimu don't recognize.

"Damn you, Hakurei Reimu! I am not done with you yet, and I will be back!" Rika yelled angrily before escaping the scene in the strange vehicle.

Reimu lands on the ground. "Persistent little girl..." She commented. "Well, she does deserve credit for building something that could shrug off my Ying-Yang Orb..."

The shrine maiden trainee looked around the immediate vicinity, and then down at her feet.

"You know, Genji, I'm amazed that you did not get hit even though you are sitting completely still right here..." Reimu said to Genji. "But with how you reacted to that girl's weapon, I guess it's time for you to retire..."

Genji slowly comes out of his shell. "It is strange that moving entities are easier to hit than stationary ones... And I retire only when the Hakurei bloodline comes to an end..."

"Whatever you say, old turtle..." Reimu responds as she walks past the smoking remains of the Flower Tank. "Come on, I still have whoever sent me that challenge to deal with."

* * *

Alright. Our intrepid shrine maiden trainee has defeated Rika and her tanks in battle. Up next, we'll see her deal with either one of those two nameless midbosses, maybe both of them at the same time.

Do I need to explain what Mundane Humans are? They're pretty much perfectly ordinary humans with no magical powers.

I've got no irrelevant comments to make otherwise, other than time constrains due to sharing the same college timetable as Lt Colonel Summers.

Changes from canon:

Rika's title - Rika doesn't even have a title in  _SoEW_. Here, I gave her the title "Anachronistic Engineer", befitting her relatively modern mindset in what is essentially a medieval realm.

Battle against the Flower Tank - In  _SoEW_ , you would simply try to keep dodging its shots while your own danmaku slowly whittles down its hit-points. Here, it has enough armor plating to shrug off a direct hit from the Ying-Yang Orb - Reimu's most powerful weapon up to that point. However, Reality Ensues again that, without magical enchantments on it, the Flower Tank is pretty much just a fancy-looking tank that "sounds good in theory, but useless upon execution". Finally, the Flower Tank didn't have that built-in escape vehicle in  _SoEW_.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords ends here._


	18. From Mundane to Curses

**Reimaden.**

Somewhere within the mysterious realm of Reimaden, a foreboding figure stood still in the middle of a magic circle.

Or perhaps "stood" isn't the right word, for the foreboding figure lacked any human feet. The foreboding figure is in fact, hovering just a miniscule distance off the ground the magic circle rests on.

A small winged creature with an eyeball almost as big as its entire body flew toward the figure and hovered in place.

"Oh?" The foreboding figure said, indicated by her voice as a female. "So little Reimu heeded my challenge, and she has already wrecked both of Rika's toys..."

The creature made a motion that resembled nodding.

"Very well. Go on and resume observing the little trainee." The foreboding figure ordered the small creature, which then flies back toward the direction it came from.

Someone with a small stature approached the foreboding figure.

"Its your turn now, little cursed child. Go out there and give little Reimu a taste of your curses."

...

**Northeastern Forest, Gensokyo.**

"Hey, Genji..." Reimu suddenly said as she continued flying deeper into the Northeastern Forest. "I'm feeling a bit uneasy at this point. Do you sense anything strange?"

Genji closed his eyes and focused, at the same time keeping up with the shrine maiden trainee. In a short while, he opened his eyes again and said, "None as of yet..."

Reimu sighed once. "This is getting suspicious. Nothing is here to at least try to stop me, especially when that Rika girl is the type to come up with new tricks at unexpected moments."

As soon as that is said, a swarm of Bake-Bake suddenly popped out from nowhere and attacked en masse.

"These guys again...?" Reimu can't help but look at the swarm with scrutiny. "That girl sure is very unimaginative with her minions despite her supposed intellect..."

The shrine maiden trainee's response to the attack is to simply throw the Ying-Yang Orb at the Bake-Bake swarm. The Ying-Yang Orb takes out the swarm by hitting a Bake-Bake and ricocheting off toward another continuously. The Bake-Bake seemed to lack any form of intelligence that allowed them to recognize threats, so a lot of them were taken out while they were still trying to attack Reimu.

Two Generators were taken out by the randomized ricochet trajectory of the Ying-Yang Orb in the process, leading to a huge amount of Bake-Bake fading out of existence.

"There are more of them coming from deeper within the forest." Genji noted the fact that some Bake-Bake are still present despite the destruction of two Generators.

"I can see that!" Reimu responds while swatting away a Bake-Bake with her gohei. "At least they're in manageable numbers now..." She then takes out another Bake-Bake by firing a single danmaku at it.

More Bake-Bake simply appears from deeper into the forest. The next Generator is very far, it seems.

Reimu sighed again. "This is going to be a long day..."

...

Five minutes later...

It took Reimu a straight five minutes of flying toward the same direction the Bake-Bake are coming from before she locates the last Generator, and destroys it by throwing several Ofuda at it.

A tiny piece of debris from the destroyed Generator bounced off Genji harmlessly, but still much to the flying turtle's chagrin. "Reimu, why do you still require my assistance if you are now able to fly on your own?" He raised a question.

"I did say it is almost time for you to retire, but I need you with me until I become a full-fledge shrine maiden." Reimu answers while dusting dirt off her clothes. "I also can't sense certain forms of magic, so I feel much safer with you around."

Genji tries to hide it, but it is apparent that he is looking at the shrine maiden trainee with scrutiny for what she just said. "You? Feel safer with my presence?" He chuckled. "Never in my lifetime have I heard a Hakurei, shrine maiden or not, telling me that..."

Something suddenly made Genji stop mid-sentence.

Reimu have also noticed something wrong, but couldn't quite tell what it was. "What's wrong, Genji? Are you sensing something?"

"It is very faint..." Genji said. "But I am sure of a cursed presence nearby..." He became alarmed suddenly. "Dead ahead!"

Reimu also became alarmed upon hearing that. She crouched just in time to avoid being hit by a glowing orb that appeared without warning.

"That was a close one." The shrine maiden trainee notes as she looks at the danmaku that flew past her.

However, that danmaku soon turned all the way around and is headed for Reimu again.

Surprised by what she just saw, Reimu used her gohei to swat the danmaku away.

The swatting had redirected the danmaku toward a nearby tree. That danmaku didn't do any physical damage to the tree, but it began to wither rapidly upon being hit.

Reimu became even more surprised by what the danmaku could do, as she turns toward where it came from in the first place.

There, blanketed by the shadows of the forest canopy, a humanoid figure with a small stature acts very surprised by the outcome of the ambush. "Damn it...!" She exclaimed before escaping deeper into the forest.

"Whoever that individual was, she carried a cursed aura with her..." Genji notes. "Her attack appears to be cursed as well..."

Reimu took to the air and gave chase to the escaping figure. "Cursed or not, I need to get some answers from her about whoever sent me that challenge."

The shrine maiden trainee's chase is abruptly stopped when something else literally materialized out of thin air in front of her.

"A mask...?" She became confused by what she is seeing.

"A Cursed Mask." Genji recognizes what the strange mask is. "Used by dark sorcerers as minions, the Cursed Masks always appear in huge numbers and are quite resistance against magic..."

More Cursed Masks soon popped into existence, surrounding Reimu and Genji from all directions.

"...And might I say that they are quite the unpleasant obstacles whenever they are encountered." Genji added.

Reimu gritted her teeth as she enters a defensive stance. "A Mundane Human and magic user... The challenger sure doesn't know how to properly organize her entourages."

* * *

With Rika (temporarily) dealt with, we will move on to the nameless midboss Youkai - aka Noroiko as the next boss that Reimu has to deal with.

That's it. I got nothing else to say right now.

Changes from canon:

Noroiko's cursed danmaku - In  _SoEW_ , Noroiko's cursed danmaku are homing danmaku that simply hurts you on contact. Here, it is shown that she can inflict some  _unpleasant_  elements upon whatever she shoots.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	19. Cursed Child

**Northeastern Forest, Gensokyo.**

Unlike the Bake-Bake that are spawned by Generators, the Cursed Masks literally appears out of thin air with absolutely no indication as to when and where. This has made it difficult for Reimu to anticipate their attacks and retaliate, especially when the Cursed Masks are resistant to magic such as danmaku.

"You are right, Genji..." Reimu said as she fires danmaku at one of the Cursed Masks. It took about a dozen danmaku with no misses to defeat just one Cursed Mask. "These things are unpleasant... and annoying!"

Three Cursed Masks suddenly appeared around Reimu, and fired danmaku at her. The shrine maiden trainee evaded the danmaku by crouching under them, and then retaliates by bashing the Cursed Masks with her gohei.

"At least they don't handle physical attacks too well." Reimu notes the fact that bashing the Cursed Masks with her gohei appears to be more effective than shooting them with danmaku.

The same humanoid figure from before suddenly jumps down from the treetops in front of Reimu and fires two cursed orb at the shrine maiden trainee in one go.

"This again...?" Reimu complained. She tries to intercept the first cursed orb by throwing an Ofuda at it.

Unfortunately, the cursed orb deflects the Ofuda away and continues on its course toward the shrine maiden trainee.

With no time to even complain, Reimu removed a branch from a nearby tree and threw it at the first cursed orb. The branch absorbs the cursed orb that was meant for Reimu, and begins to wither away as it lands on the ground.

The second cursed orb follows. Reimu uses her gohei to swat it back toward the humanoid figure who fired it.

The humanoid figure let out an "Oh...!" as the second cursed orb hits her, sending her tumbling back a short distance. It seems that she is immune to her own curses, as she seemed relatively fine, being able to stand up and make a run for it again. Three more Cursed Masks appear as she escapes.

"Hey!" Reimu shouted as she weaves through the Cursed Masks' danmaku barrage and then bashing up all three with her gohei. "I'm not done with you yet!"

...

It was a pretty long distance and lots of Cursed Masks being taken down before Reimu and Genji were able to catch up with the humanoid figure.

The humanoid figure turned around and is about to fire another cursed orb. Reimu stopped her by throwing an Ofuda, which exploded in front of her, sending her tumbling backwards.

"Yaahh!" The humanoid figure cried out upon being hit.

Reimu lands on the ground. "Alright, time for some interrogation~"

Genji gets close to the shrine maiden trainee and tries to get her attention. "You may want to be careful, considering what her powers are..."

Reimu just looked at Genji by the corner of her eyes. "Don't worry. I got this, gramps." She said.

The shrine maiden trainee approaches the humanoid figure.

The humanoid figure's appearance became apparent at this point. She has short, dark red hair tied with a red bow. She appears to be wearing a purple skirt and a purple shirt with white long sleeves. There is also a jagged, red design along the hem of her skirt. The aura that she emits around her body indicates that she is not human.

"She appears to be a Youkai..." Genji notes.

"Okay. First question: who sent you here?" Reimu asked the Youkai in an intimidating manner.

The Youkai most certainly felt intimidated. "I...I...I cannot tell you...!" She reply defiantly after picking herself up from the ground.

Reimu brandishes her gohei and points its tip at the Youkai. "Why not? I could seal you away right here."

The Youkai took a step back defiantly, but with signs of terror. "Be...Because she is very powerful... She is very unforgiving..." She stammered.

Reimu presses the tip of her gohei on the Youkai's forehead. "And?"

The shrine maiden trainee's straightforward response seems to have mentally triggered something within the Youkai. With no indication whatsoever, she fired a cursed orb, point-blank, at Reimu.

At such a miniscule distance, there is no way Reimu could possibly deflect or dodge the cursed orb. The cursed orb blasts her gohei right out of her right hand.

"Reimu!" Genji exclaimed.

Reimu stumbled back. "I'm alright. But someone won't be..." She said while putting her left hand over her right arm. "Stay back. Things are about to get messy."

The Youkai begins to hover a meter off the ground, and get serious. "She sent me to curse you... And I will curse you!"

That sentence got Reimu thinking. "Sent...curse me... Have I met this 'she' before?"

Reimu's thought is interrupted when the Youkai sent a cursed orb toward her. The shrine maiden trainee rolls out of the way and then goes for her gohei which landed at a distance.

As with before, the cursed orb makes a full turn around and chases after Reimu.

Reimu picks up her gohei from the ground just in time to quickly turn around and swat the cursed orb away. The cursed orb gets redirected into a mid-sized boulder which upon being hit, slowly disintegrates into fine dust that then gets carried away by a breeze.

"Good thing my gohei was in the right place to take that surprise shot..." Reimu shrugged at the thought of actually being hit by a cursed orb.

The Youkai, on the other hand, got into a very bad mood. "Curses! I will curse you!" She then fires off several cursed orbs in one go.

Knowing that there is no point in dodging the cursed orbs (as they actively chase her), Reimu braced herself for the shots, and then swats them away one by one with her gohei.

"Enough with your curses!" The shrine maiden trainee shouted out, before throwing out three Ofuda at the Youkai. "Shut up and take it easy!"

The three Ofuda exploded in front of the Youkai at once, launching her against a tree.

"That's it. Take it easy while I do my job..." Reimu said as she takes the chance to approach the Youkai.

The Youkai, still conscious despite the blast, tries to fire another cursed orb at Reimu. The shrine maiden trainee interrupts her by firing several danmaku around her as warning shots.

"I said take it easy." Reimu warned. "I gave you a chance to tell me what I want to know, but since you decided to fight back..." She then raises her gohei, and is about to bring it down on the Youkai with full force...

...Until the Youkai stops her by saying "Wait! I'll tell you all you need to know!"

At the last second, the blow that would've gave the Youkai a severe concussion is greatly weakened into a simple clunking of her head, which only annoys her at best. "Okay, then. I change my mind, but you have one minute before I change it back~" Reimu said with a creepy grin and a threatening tone.

Hearing the threat and seeing the creepy grin, the Youkai is intimidated once again, and wasted no time in confessing. "Sh...she's a powerful wizard... claims to have met you before... have some scores to settle with you...before resuming her revenge on humanity..."

Reimu doesn't quite get the answers she heard... except for the very last part which got her attention. "Repeat the last two points..." She demanded.

The Youkai at this point is more afraid of what Reimu might do to her, so she complied. "She wants to settle some scores with you before resuming her revenge on all humans...!"

Reimu finally understood what, or rather,  _who_  the Youkai was talking about. "Powerful wizard... met me before... scores to settle with me... revenge on humanity..." To confirm her suspicions, the shrine maiden trainee asked the Youkai in an even more intimidating manner. "This woman who sent you... Is she a green-haired evil spirit?"

"Y...yes!" The Youkai answered, fully intimidated by Reimu.

Reimu went wide-eyed upon getting her answer. "Mima...!"

Before the shrine maiden trainee can interrogate the Youkai any further, a star-shaped danmaku hits the Youkai in the face and knocked her out cold instantly.

Surprise by the sudden (non-lethal) assassination, Reimu took a step back and turned toward where the star-shaped danmaku came from.

At that direction, Reimu sees what appeared to be a red-haired girl wearing a purple pointy hat and a purple dress escaping the scene by flying away... on a broom?

The shrine maiden trainee is bewildered by the unidentified assailant. "Damn, she silenced my only lead." She complained. "Is she working for Mima too?"

Reimu then turns toward Genji, who at this point is almost all but forgotten.

"Hey, gramps. Ever seen anything like that girl in purple?" She asked the flying turtle.

Genji slowly walks toward Reimu before replying, "I am not familiar with that girl's magic..."

Reimu looked at the direction the girl in purple escape towards. "Yet I feel like I have sensed her kind of magic aura before..." She scratched her head as she thinks of the answer. "That demon girl, Elis, called it 'Western magic', I think..."

Genji cuts in. "You've learned from this cursed child that the evil spirit, Mima, has returned, and she is the one who sent you that challenge..."

Reimu clenches her right hand. "And I will heed her challenge, beat all of her minions into submission, and then I'll beat  _her_  into submission a second time."

* * *

Alright, Noroiko is defeated, and just as Reimu is in the middle of interrogating her, the cursed child is suddenly silenced by a star danmaku to the face, courtesy of that girl in purple. Even a newbie will instantly recognize that girl in purple as Marisa, so I don't need to explain that part any further.

What I  _do_  need to explain are the changes from canon, as shown below:

Noroiko - Absolutely no dialogues are exchanged between Reimu and Noroiko when you encounter her in  _SoEW_ , as she just start her mid-boss battle right away. But here, dialogues are exchanged several times at both the beginning and end of the battle. Also, her cursed orbs aren't homing in  _SoEW_ , they just acted like any danmaku in the game.

The girl in purple - Well, that's obviously PC-98 Marisa. But, her existence in  _SoEW_  is not indicated in any way by the plot until she shows up as a boss. Here, she shows up right after Reimu defeats Noroiko, shuts Noroiko up with a star danmaku to the face, and then escapes on her flying broom without saying anything.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	20. The Girl in Purple

**Reimaden**

"I'm back, Lady Mima~"

Said the girl in purple as she showed up in the mysterious realm of Reimaden, and lands not too far in front of the evil spirit, Mima.

"You were not quick enough with silencing Noroiko, though..." Mima told the girl in purple as she holds up a finger. "That cursed child still leaked enough to let Reimu know that I sent her the challenge, and sent out Rika to destroy her shrine..."

The girl in purple face-palmed upon hearing that. "Aw, jeez! I was too slow.."

Mima puts her hand down. "But I forgive you, my pupil. It doesn't really matter whether little Reimu learns about me being behind the incident, what matters is that she doesn't know how much I've changed..." That said, the evil spirit slowly walked, or rather, floated toward the girl in purple, and petted her. "Besides, no one is perfect. Not even the gods, not even me..."

The girl in purple blushed with a smile. "Aw, man..." But then she remembers something. "Wait, speakin' of perfect... You wanted to have revenge on all humans, right?" She then points out something crucial. "You do know I'm a human, as are my friends - your  _other_  pupils, right?"

Mima smiled, not the creepy kind, but the heartwarming kind. "Of course I do know. I meant to say all humans  _except_ my pupils."

"Glad to hear that~" The girl in purple said.

Mima moves her hand away from the pupil's head. "Now sit back and watch as I show you how one knocks down a shrine maiden."

When that is said, a swarm of eye-wing creatures appeared out of nowhere, flying past both Mima and her pupil before going out of the only entrance of Reimaden.

...

**Northeastern Forest.**

"Something tells me that I'm not even in a real forest anymore..." Reimu pointed out at the fact that this part of the Northeastern Forest is unnaturally dark.

"I agree with you, despite the landscape saying otherwise..." Genji said.

The duo then goes silent to see if there's any strange sounds coming from anywhere in the unnatural shadows of the forest. They found only complete silence, not even the wind can be heard.

"If Mima and her minions are looking for a creepy atmosphere, they're right to have picked this place..." Reimu points out. "I already have goose pimples, even though I'm not supposed to."

"I believe the word 'creepy' is so often associated with evil that the two words have become nearly synonymous..." Genji said. "Even though it wasn't always the case, especially in the days of your ancestors..."

Reimu raised a hand up, the meaning of the gesture very obvious to Genji. "Leave your 'good old days' speech for later, gramps."

"As you wish..." The flying turtle gave a stoic response.

So Reimu and Genji went deeper into the eerie forest, with no random conversations to start...for only a single minute before they both stopped in their tracks.

"I sense evil magic approaching..." Reimu became alerted as she draws out her gohei.

"As do I..." Genji said with acknowledgement.

The shrine maiden trainee and flying turtle looked ahead, and sees movement. Although the eerie shadows masked the identity of the approaching entities from this distance, Reimu and Genji could still tell that it is a huge swarm of supernatural beings.

"Evil Eyes!" Genji exclaims.

"Evil what?" Reimu doesn't quite get what the flying turtle is talking about.

"Creatures created with dark sorcery, the Evil Eyes are the very definition of evil." Genji quickly explains. "Creating these creatures are within the capabilities of powerful evil spirits, especially a former sorceress such as Mima."

Reimu looked closer at the approaching swarm. "So you're saying that Mima, the same Evil Spirit with mental problems who couldn't even think straight and spent the entire duel against me with that depressed look on her face... did this?!"

Genji apparently have no idea how to answer the shrine maiden trainee's surprise question. "I do not understand how she is able to overcome decades worth of depression in the span of a month, but apparently Mima did so..." The flying turtle then notes that the swarm of Evil Eyes have gotten very close. "Be on guard, Reimu! Here they come!"

"I can see that!" Reimu said as she tosses an Ofuda at the swarm of Evil Eyes.

The Ofuda exploded, the explosion taking out many Evil Eyes which then disintegrate into a puff of black smoke. However, that is not enough to deal with the entire swarm.

"I knew I should've sealed her away last month when I have the chance!" Reimu shows signs of regret as she braves herself for the incoming swarm of Evil Eyes.

...

**Reimaden**

"Mental problems...can't think straight...depressed look...?" The girl in purple, watching Reimu's progress through a magic crystal orb that Mima conjured, repeated Reimu's words in confusion. She then turns toward the Evil Spirit with the same confused look. "Lady Mima, that was you...a month ago?"

Mima doesn't appear to be willing to answer that question. "I'm not in the mood to explain that. In your words: its a long story."

The girl in purple frowned. "Ya tryin' to evade my question?"

Anyone else being told that in such a context would've become angry on the spot, but Mima is apparently one of the few that don't. "If you were a ghost, would you like to be reminded of how you died?" The Evil Spirit said with a calm composure.

The girl in purple let that sink in for a moment. "Uh... Good point, I 'spose..." She then answers.

"Anything else you have a question for?" Mima asks a different question.

The girl in purple ran through her thoughts for a while, before replying, "Nope..."

Mima then redirects her pupil's attention onto the magic crystal orb. "Then let's continue watching how little Reimu fights her way through everything before reaching us..." The Evil Spirit let out a smirk, which her pupil has already gotten used to. "Of course, I am not talking about the small fries..."

...

**Northeastern Forest.**

The swarm of Evil Eyes were not actively attacking Reimu. Some of them might stop in their tracks to fire eye beams at the shrine maiden trainee, but the Evil Eyes seems more focused on impeding Reimu's progress than actually trying to take her down. The Evil Eyes were not interested in Genji at all, as they have completely ignored the flying turtle like he isn't there.

"They appear to be more interested in defending a key location..." Genji noted the behavior of the swarm. "But what could it be?"

"Is this the time to think about that?!" Reimu said furiously while she was busy defending herself against the swarm of Evil Eyes and dodging their eye beams. "These things keep coming like a flood! A suggestion would be appreciated!" She added as she returns fire with her danmaku.

"For all I could remember about them, Evil Eyes are more fragile than a piece of paper, but always appear in endless streams, sometimes literally." Genji suggests.

"Well, that is  _very_  useful, gramps!" Reimu answers with sarcasm.

One Evil Eye stopped right in front of Reimu, and tried to fire a point-blank eye-beam at her. The shrine maiden trainee dodges the eye beam with her quick reflex before stabbing the Evil Eye with her gohei. The defeated Evil Eye disintegrates in a puff of black smoke.

"If this is what a trainee has to go through, I don't think I want to know a full-fledged shrine maiden's..." Reimu remarked and then swallowed hard as she looks at the direction where the flood-like swarm of Evil Eyes are coming from...with her right in the middle of it...

* * *

Right, college pressure is getting to me, just as it is getting to Lt Colonel Summers.

But don't worry, it won't give me a huge Writer's Block, as I already have materials to work on when writing  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_ , unlike Summers'  _Fantasy Blitzkrieg series_ ,  _Gensokyo Untold_  and  _Metal Slug: Mercenaries_  which he had to world-build from scratch.

That said, I'll try to update  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_  as often as possible.

The boss fight with Meira will be in the next chapter, so look forward to it!

Changes from canon:

Mima's pupil **s** \- Marisa is the only pupil Mima has in canon. Here, when Mima mentions her plan to seek revenge on humanity, Marisa reminds the Evil Spirit that she and her friends, Mima's  _other pupils_ , are also human. Key word here being Mima's other pupils...

Marisa's speech pattern - It doesn't look any different from canon due to translations, but here, Marisa actually  _is_  speaking English instead of Japanese being translated into English. Because in my personal headcanon, Marisa must've been American-Japanese. The "ze" tic doesn't count because Marisa hasn't picked it up yet by the events of canon  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	21. Misinterpreted As Yuri

**Northeastern Forest.**

Reimu has already spent quite a while dealing with the swarm of Evil Eyes, and it became apparent that the swarm won't be ending anytime soon.

The shrine maiden trainee is getting impatient...

"THIS IS GETTING OVERBLOWN!" She yelled out furiously.

Having enough of the flood-like swarm, Reimu began to chuck one Ofuda after another at every direction. The explosions caused by the Ofuda took out multitudes of Evil Eyes each time they occur. But the swarm is so huge that, by the time they are completely wiped out several minutes later, Reimu has already burned through her entire supply of Ofuda (maybe not, but she's not in the mood to check).

Reimu stood there, exhausted from all the Ofuda throwing, as she catches her breath. "Sometimes...you just need...to go back...to the...old ways...of sheer brute force..."

Genji couldn't help but pity the shrine maiden trainee. "Indeed, there are times when the old ways are better than new ones."

A single Evil Eye had survived the mad bombing, as it pops out all of a sudden and fires an eye beam at Reimu. So sudden that even Genji is caught off guard.

The eye beam grazed Reimu by her right shoulder. The stinging sensation of the graze notified the shrine maiden trainee of the sneak attack, as she quickly turns around and take out the Evil Eye by whacking it with her gohei.

"You should be able to guess what I am thinking of right now..." Reimu said to Genji as she rubs the part of her shoulder that was grazed.

"I think I do..." Genji answers.

...

**Reimaden**

"Miss Mima..." The girl in purple pointed out for the evil spirit. "Reimu here just made your eye...wing things cease to exist..."

"I know." Mima replied. "That was part of the plan. Those Evil Eyes were meant to tire out Reimu. I got someone else to deal with her."

The girl in purple seems unimpressed as she heard that. "You sure you didn't bribe her?" She said with a frown. "I mean, what's in it for her? And did ya promise anything for that girl with the big honkin' cannons?"

Mima's response to that was simple. "For Rika, it is the chance for her to test out her inventions. For Meira..."

"Something more amazin'?" The girl in purple cuts her off.

"More precisely, something she genuinely wanted herself." Mima continues.

...

**Northeastern Forest.**

Something made Genji raise his head and look at the path in front. "Someone is coming. A human, perhaps..."

Reimu took note of that. "A human? That girl with her big toys is back?"

Genji shook his head. "No. This one has a magical aura. Very faint, but enough to identify her as being not Mundane Human..."

As if on cue, the subject in question appeared at the path in front as soon as Genji finishes his statement. There isn't any fancy or foreboding element about her arrival, though; she literally just walked into the scene and stood not too far in front of Reimu.

The new arrival has dark eyes, and purple hair that makes her obviously female, but her red and white robes looked like something a male would wear. She is also carrying a simple-looking katna.

**Ronin of Mysteries**

**Meira**

"My name is Meira..." The new arrival went straight to introducing herself. "...And I have come to claim the Hakurei." She added, trying to look all serious about it.

Reimu seem rather surprised at the statement. "Well, I wasn't expecting this so soon... But I guess its okay..."

Meira is also surprised by the shrine maiden trainee's reaction. "That was very direct..." She dropped all sense of seriousness for a brief moment, and then goes back to being serious. "A-Anyway, if I win, then I will claim the power of the Hakurei!"

Reimu waved her hand in an attention-grabbing manner. "You don't have to fight me, you know..." She said, seemingly all relaxed despite the intended atmosphere.

It is then that Meira understood what is going on. "Damn it! It isn't you that I want! I want your power, fool!" The Ronin angrily, and embarrassingly clarified. "Additionally, I am a woman, and so are you! Were you actually hearing what I said in a romantic subtext?!"

Genji has no jaws, but at the moment, he wished he had one so he can figuratively drop his jaws at the conversation taking place before him.

"Maybe~" Reimu gives a very straightforward answer. It was pretty obvious what the shrine maiden trainee is thinking of at this point.

Meira is even more surprised to hear that response. "Seriously?! I repeat: it is  _your power_  that I want! And I am going to..."

Reimu interrupts the Ronin. "...Fight me for it. Yeah, yeah..."

Meira regained her composure, clearing her throat before continuing, "That was what I meant in the first place."

Reimu waved her hand in a dismissing manner again. "I was actually asking if you accept my..."

Meira lost her composure again immediately upon hearing that. She interrupted Reimu and exclaimed loudly, "What is wrong with your..." She stopped mid-sentence, seeing the pointlessness at further correcting Reimu. "Oh never mind..." With that said, she drew out her katana, and declared, "I will not lose!"

As it turns out, it wasn't Meira herself who's giving off the faint magic aura. Her katana is, as shown by the fact that it is emitting a faint purple glow.

"Reimu, that sword of hers..." Genji pointed out with uneasiness.

"I know, gramps." Reimu answered. "She's getting all serious... I guess..." The shrine maiden trainee then sends out a single Ofuda (turns out she still has a small amount with her) without thinking much about it...

...Only for the Ofuda to be sliced in half as Meira positioned her katana between herself and the Ofuda, with the sharp end of the katana facing the projectile. Both halves of the Ofuda loses their magical aura and gently falls to the ground as ordinary pieces of paper.

"And I thought I was finally going to have an easy opponent..." Reimu remarked disappointingly. "But why would you pr..."

Meira then points the tip of her katana at the shrine maiden trainee. "At least take me seriously when I fight you!" She demanded, before raising her katana above her head in preparation to attack. "I may be a human, but do not rank me below the common Youkai!"

"Whatever~" Reimu, still not taking Meira seriously, answered in a dismissing manner before sending three more Ofuda toward Meira.

Meira performs a cross slice, slicing up all three Ofuda in the process. "I guess you were too distracted by your inappropriate daydreaming from the misinterpreted speech earlier that you stopped paying attention..." She prepares for another attack. "I will just have to make you take me seriously, then."

The Ronin follows up by vertically slashing at seemingly nothing but thin air right in front of her. However, the slash appears to have literally drawn a line where it travelled.

Said line then transform into a barrage of danmaku that flies toward Reimu.

It was said barrage of danmaku that made Reimu start taking Meira seriously. The shrine maiden trainee barely manages to squeeze through the barrage, and had to block some of those danmaku with her gohei.

"Not a bad way to make me take you seriously, actually." Reimu said.

Meira smirked. "It was about time, Hakurei shrine maiden..." She points the tip of her katana again at Reimu. "After this is over, I will claim the power of the Hakurei as mine!"

* * *

Sorry about the delay, got a case of Writer's Block along with having tons of college work to do in the past two weeks.

Also, the next chapter is guaranteed to be delayed because I will be having a holiday in Japan next week, and I'm on a tour, which means I won't have any chance at writing anything until I get back home. I had to end this chapter prematurely because I need to get it done before I leave for the holiday. Additional sorry about that...

The dialogue between Reimu and Meira. I pretty much copied the whole thing from the  _Touhou_  wiki and changed just a few words. The scene was so funny I just couldn't stand changing it completely, although those tiny changes I did have implied something about Reimu's mentality when it comes to having a relationship...

Changes from canon:

Meira's title - Meira has no title in  _SoEW_  canon. Here, she's the Ronin Of Mysteries. Actually, I have always seen Meira as a Ronin - a samurai without a master, because her entire character reeks of one.

Reimu X Meira shipping - Not that I mean an actual pairing of the two characters. Its just that I seem to have implied the former being gay (something even the fandom can't seem to agree upon despite the almost-entirely-female cast of  _Touhou_ )...

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	22. Ronin of Mysteries

**Northeastern Forest.**

Meira starts off the battle by drawing a line in midair with her katana. As with the last one, the line transforms into a barrage of danmaku that launches themselves toward Reimu.

Reimu dodges the barrage by rolling to the side. She then retaliates with her own danmaku attacks.

Meira easily block all of the shrine maiden trainee's danmaku. "I thought your attacks would've been more than simple." She said while blocking the shots with her katana. "This one is simple."

Reimu presses on with her return fire. "They said it's best to start simple." The shrine maiden trainee replies. "Although it won't stay simple..."

Meira raises her katana above her head. "Then I won't keep my attacks simple either..."

The Ronin proceeds to use her sword to draw a very long line in the air in front of her. Unlike the last two sword lines, this one transformed into danmaku that flew toward every direction (except Meira's) randomly.

This one proved to be much more difficult for Reimu to dodge. The shrine maiden trainee tries her best to weave around the randomized barrage, but got hit several times, reeling back with each hit.

"That was a good one, actually..." Reimu compliments as she recovers from the hits. "Good thing normal danmaku can't draw blood, unlike those from the evil spirit who roped you into this..."

Meira is surprised on hearing about "the evil spirit", but perfectly conceals any indication of it in her expression. "Well, who said I must kill you first to be able to take your powers?" She then continues her attack, thrusting the tip of her katana forward which fired off an aimed but spread out barrage of danmaku.

This one is relatively easier to dodge, which Reimu does. However, Meira immediately follows up with her previous attack, which is a very long sword line that transformed into danmaku of randomized directions.

Once again, Reimu have trouble with the randomized barrage. Though experience with the last one meant that the shrine maiden trainee knew what to expect, as she focuses on dodging and blocking only the individual danmaku that are actually coming toward her, ignoring the ones that wouldn't have hit her otherwise.

"You know what they say: experience makes things easier~" Reimu announces. She then throws two more Ofuda at Meira.

Meira is prepared to slash the two incoming Ofuda out of the air. But she wasn't able to, as both Ofuda collided with each other just short of reaching the Ronin. The double explosion that follows caused her to reel back as well as disorienting her.

"Like I said, experience~" Reimu takes the opportunity to fire danmaku at Meira, and is able to land hits on her several times. But that is still not enough to knock her out of the fight.

Meira dropped onto her knees, panting heavily as she recover from being hit several times. "You are harder than I thought, despite the fact that you are still a trainee..." The Ronin attempts to stand up by using her katana as a support. "I guess it is time for me to do this the hard way..."

"Hard way?" Reimu is confused by what Meira meant. The shrine maiden trainee briefly turned toward Genji - who had somehow managed to not get hit once during the crossfire despite staying completely still, and asked, "Hey, gramps, you know what she means by that?"

"My best guess is that she will be much more serious with her attacks..." The flying turtle gave a direct answer.

Then, without waiting for Reimu to turn her attention back, Meira launched out several danmaku...that are strange in that they are ricocheting off everything in the immediate vicinity, and there's a  _lot_  of them.

One of these ricocheting danmaku caught Reimu by surprise as the shrine maiden trainee gets clobbered on the back of her head. "Ouch, that hurts!" She rubbed the back of her head. "I thought people like you were opposed to the idea of ambushes?!"

"You should be paying attention at all times, Hakurei!" Meira said before launching out even more ricocheting danmaku. "I won't go easy on you, like I've said!"

Reimu tries her best to dodge the ricocheting danmaku barrage, which becomes more difficult as their number increases. "Hey! Hey! Hey! This is a bit too mu..." Her complaint is interrupted when one of the ricocheting danmaku hits her on her shoulder, then another on her back...

...And finally, one more right in her chest.

"Pichun~!" The shrine maiden trainee cried out upon taking the third hit, knocking her down onto the ground.

"...!" Genji became surprised and worried at what had just happened. The flying turtle tried to approach Reimu, despite Meira's ricocheting danmaku bouncing all over the place.

Meira, seeing the outcome, ceased her attacks, and said, "And now... I shall claim the power of the Hakurei as mine."

But then something surprised Meira. Reimu wasn't completely knocked out, as she picked herself up from the ground - albeit with as much effort as an injured person doing so.

"Well..." Reimu said with heavy panting. "I guess... I'll have to follow through with... your deal..."

The shrine maiden trainee then seemingly produces her Ying-Yang Orb from thin air...And then throws it with as much power as she can muster at Meira.

Even though the Ying-Yang Orb is not thrown with Reimu's full strength, it is still thrown hard enough to be a projectile. Meira notices this fact, and attempts to deflect it with her katana. But the Ronin's katana is not strong enough to withstand the impact, and breaks in half as a result. The Ying-Yang Orb continued in its trajectory and clobbered Meira right in the face, knocking her down onto the ground. Her katana soon landed next to her.

"Maybe you should've specified  _how_  you were going to take it after you knock me down." Reimu quips in a taunting manner.

Genji is relieved that Reimu is ok, but he would've face-palmed (had he got a palm to do so) at how she turned the tide around and threw in a one-liner at that. "I have no comment on this, young lady..."

No response came from Meira, though.

"Uh... Are you still alive?" Reimu directed at the Ronin.

Meira got back up very slowly. Instead of continuing the fight, she just picked up her katana and sheathed it in a quick motion. "Of course I'm alive, dammit!" She replied angrily. "Alright! You win! I'll be going!" She declared loudly before running out of the immediate area, disappearing into the forest within seconds.

Reimu just stared at the direction Meira escaped to for a few seconds before saying "Well, that's a shame. Because I was going to ask her why she wanted the Hakurei powers... Or is it because..."

Genji quickly figured out what Reimu is about to think of, and interrupts her. "Reimu, the kind of relationship you are thinking of... I think it is unhealthy for girls your age..."

"Oh, what do you know, gramps?" Reimu talked back. "Oh well, we can talk about this later. Come on, I want to teach Mima a lesson or two about messing with the Hakurei..."

* * *

And that concludes the fight against Meira. Up next: The Five Magic Stones.

Meira's fighting style is as accurately modelled after her  _SoEW_  attack patterns as I can, so there weren't much changes in it.

Other than that, I've got nothing else to say.

Changes from canon:

Hitpoints - All of the shooting games have Reimu and any PC in general getting KO'd from just one hit. But here, I have Reimu withstand several direct hits without being knocked out instantly.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	23. World of Fantasies

**Reimaden.**

"Ouch..." The girl in purple winced as she saw how Reimu defeated Meira. "Guess that's why you always said demands need to be worded  _very_  carefully..."

Mima shook her head. "I admit I was a bit surprised by how our little shrine maiden here turned the tide."

The girl in purple then raises a point, "Do we have anything or anyone else we can throw at her?"

Mima gave a simple answer, "Well, I didn't drag Rika into this for nothing." The evil spirit thrusts her scepter forward all of a sudden. "She has something else waiting for Reimu at the World of Fantasies."

The girl in purple immediately understood what Mima meant. "Oh, I see. That thing sure is going to give Reimu a run for her money!"

...

**World of Fantasies.**

Seconds ago, Reimu is still trekking through the Northeastern Forest of Gensokyo after having just defeated Meira. But then the surroundings turned into something completely different, literally within the blink of an eye.

"Where the heck is this?" Reimu is utterly confused. "How did I go from being in a forest to being in... this place?"

Genji looked around the strange place, and seems to recognize it. "This is the World of Fantasies. With such huge amount of ambient magic all over it, this pocket realm is just right for Mima to regain the powers she used to have."

Reimu scanned her surroundings. "Whatever this place is really supposed to be, I don't think humans are supposed settle down here." She commented. "Yet it is strange that I am completely fine with it."

"Don't worry, the World of Fantasies itself is relatively harmless." Genji reassures the shrine maiden trainee. "Beings that chose to live in it, however, are an entirely different matter..."

Reimu frowned as she heard that. "For once, I wish I can just settle things with Mima and call it a day..."

The shrine maiden trainee then continues walking forward, but stopped as she came across a cliff edge overlooking an ominous canyon. She leaned slightly forward to take a look over the cliff edge, and found that the canyon is too deep for the bottom to be visible...or the canyon is literally bottomless, as the bottom basically showed the same thing one would see by lifting their head up during a starry night sky.

"I've seen some weird things before, but this takes the cake for being a place made entirely of weird." Reimu added.

But then, something else caught the shrine maiden trainee's eyes.

"Are those...stars...supposed to be moving around?" Reimu turned around to ask Genji.

Genji frowned as he heard that. "Reimu, nothing in the World of Fantasies even came close to resembling stars..."

"Huh?!" All confused, Reimu took another peak over the cliff edge. The "stars", if that is what they resembled, are indeed moving...

...And they all seemed to be hugging the cliff face whilst doing so.

"Hey, gramps. Are you sure there are no st..." Reimu tries to ask Genji again, but was interrupted when those "stars" suddenly rushed up the cliff face like a waterfall in reverse. "What the...?!" She yelped, backing away from the cliff edge in surprise.

The identity of these "stars" are revealed to be small mechanical contraptions that resembled windmills. The ends of the blades appeared to be emitting dim white glows that trailed a line as they spun around their core.

"These things... they do not appear to be native to the World of Fantasies..." Genji noted the unnatural appearance of the flying windmills.

"And I think I know who made them..." Reimu also noted as she gets ready for combat. "...And I'm going to teach her a lesson or two about messing with the Hakurei before I do the same with Mima."

That said, Reimu begins by firing a volley of danmaku at the flying windmills when the entire swarm charged toward her.

The flying windmills are no more resistant to damage than the Evil Eyes that Reimu fought before encountering Meira, falling apart when they are hit. Like the Evil Eyes, however, there are just so many flying windmills that such small number of casualties made little difference to them.

Reimu tries to follow up with a few Ofuda, but found that this time, she really is down to her last one. "Oh well. Better than nothing..." With that said, the shrine maiden trainee releases her last Ofuda at the flying windmills.

The flying windmills at the front of the swarm are blown apart by the explosion of the Ofuda. Yet, that is still only a small number in comparison to the whole swarm.

"Here they come!" Genji warned Reimu as the flying windmills charged toward her en masse.

Reimu avoids being bulldozed by the flying windmills by throwing herself onto the ground. She waited for the swarm to completely pass over her before standing back up.

"I can't fight these things while on the ground." The shrine maiden trainee noted. "I better take to the air." That said, she quickly took off into the air.

The swarm of flying windmills made a full turnaround as they make yet another charge straight at Reimu.

Reimu tries her best to thin out the swarm of flying windmills by firing danmaku at them. But she stopped once she realizes the pointlessness in  _simply_  shooting such a massive swarm with dinky little danmaku.

"Ah, just how did that brown-hair manage to build so many of them?" The shrine maiden trainee wondered as she starts flying away from the swarm. "At least she didn't give them the ability to shoot back..."

And so Reimu flew away from the cliff (leaving Genji behind in the process, much to his chagrin) and went deeper into the World of Fantasies. The flying windmills chased after her, lining themselves up in such a formation that the entire swarm resembled an enormous serpent.

"Reminds me of that time when I disturbed a beehive..." Reimu noted to herself as she keeps her distance from the flying windmills.

* * *

Sorry for the delay. Got a case of Writer's Block as I was writing this chapter.

Anyways, I have to end this chapter without a boss being even introduced as I'm on a tight schedule and had to get the update done ASAP.

Changes from canon:

The World of Fantasies - This place is not given much information even in  _SoEW_. I added a few things, including how it is noted to have a canyon (which is what it looked like in the game), but that's about it. Don't think I'll have any reason to revisit it in the remakes of the Windows games either...

Flying windmills - Nothing is said about them in any canon material. Here, the only addition is that they appeared to be mechanical drones made by Rika. Reimu didn't describe the windmills as "drones" because it is a modern term and she is a medieval person. Ditto with Genji.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	24. Strange Day

**World of Fantasies**

No matter which direction Reimu flies toward, the flying windmills will keep on chasing her.

The shrine maiden trainee launched a Ying-Yang Orb at the swarm of flying windmills. The orb smashed through a large number of them as it went through them, and then smashed through more on its way back to Reimu.

The swarm is noticeably smaller now, but there is still quite a large number of flying windmills in there.

"I now declare myself to be a hater of swarm attacks..." Reimu said as she catches the returning Ying-Yang Orb, and then quickly flies off on noticing that the brief pause has allowed the flying windmills to close the distance with her.

Several of the flying windmills flew much faster than the rest of the swarm. These faster ones shot past Reimu at a very fast speed before suddenly turning around and launching themselves back toward her. As these extra-fast flying windmills weren't in such a huge number, shooting them with danmaku is still an option, and that's exactly what Reimu did, taking out a few of them.

Reimu then swings her gohei at the approaching flying windmills in front of her as they closed in, smashing some of them into pieces. She then dodges the few that weren't taken out. The ones that she dodged went on with their trajectory, heading straight back toward the swarm...

...And then collides with the ones in the swarm, setting off a chain reaction that caused more flying windmills to crash into each other. The chain reaction lasted for a short while before it ended, and the remaining flying windmills continued their relentless chase on Reimu.

"So they're not as good at not colliding with each other as real bees." The shrine maiden trainee noted the nearly disastrous collision for the swarm. "Good to know, because that makes it a little bit easier to beat them."

More flying windmills broke off from the swarm and launched themselves toward Reimu with extra speed. The shrine maiden trainee steered herself close to the face of a cliff, and then moved away from it at the last second, causing the flying windmills to shatter into pieces as they crashed into the cliff face.

Unfortunately for Reimu, the idea of using the canyon as cover soon became short-lived, as the canyon led straight into a huge, seemingly bottomless void with no solid ground in sight aside from the direction Reimu came from.

Reimu looked around the wide open space she just entered with utter confusion before exclaiming "Really?!" She turned around to face the huge swarm of flying windmills that is still approaching her. "Why am I so unlucky when it comes to fighting bad girls...?"

The shrine maiden trainee raised her gohei and braced herself for the approaching swarm.

"Maybe I should consult the gods when I finish my training..." She told herself, waiting for the swarm to get right up close to her...

The swarm of flying windmills never did.

Something made the flying windmills start dropping like flies the moment they flew over the void, as though whatever keeps them active could not reach them beyond the World Of Fantasies' landmass.

Reimu is totally surprised by what is happening. She watched the swarm begin to disintegrate as the flying windmills attempted to chase her over the void and then drops "dead" one after another, each and every one of them falling into the void like leaves falling off trees during the autumn season.

As the shrine maiden trainee hovered there, wondering what just happened, Genji slowly approached her position, with a very grumpy look on his face.

"Sorry for leaving you behind, gramps..." Reimu apologized to the flying turtle. "Anyway, do you know what is happening to them?" She added while pointing at the "dying" flying windmills.

Genji shook his head. "I do not know. But perhaps that girl with her contraptions might..."

Reimu frowned as she remember the person in question. "As if she's going to give away the weaknesses of her toys so easily. That reminds me, she's probably somewhere around here..."

...

10 minutes. It took Reimu and Genji exactly that much time of continuous flying over the void of the World Of Fantasies before they come across something.

Said something being some kind of metallic gray platform set on top of a floating island that is just wide enough for it. There are also 24 small holes on the side of the platform facing the void, each of which have small metal tubes in them. Situated on the platform itself are five identical-looking spheres each set on a stand. At the back of the platform are two big red circles with thin grey crosses in the middle.

"What is that?" Reimu wondered.

"Presumably something constructed by that girl who destroyed the Hakurei Shrine with her siege machine..." Genji replies. "Unfortunately for us, it also happened to be right in front of our destination..." The flying turtle added, noting the open doorway floating in mid air (which also appeared to be missing its third dimension when seen from the side) that is not too far behind the spheres.

Reimu frowned again. "So that means, for me to meet Mima and kick her ghostly butt, I will have to smash up this...thing first?" The shrine maiden trainee shrugged. "Won't be an easy thing, considering that its creator is working for Mima..."

That being said, the girl in question suddenly appeared from under a trapdoor that is set between the two red circles.

"Welcome to the World Of Fantasies,  _nanodesu_ ~" Rika greeted in a malicious manner. "Congratulations for getting past the Rotorblades."

Reimu pointed behind her without turning around. "Rotorblades? That's what those flying windmills were called?" She then crosses her arms. "Whatever the case may be, I got past them because they were... defective, is that the word?"

Rika knows exactly what the shrine maiden trainee is talking about. "I admit that is a glitch I need to work on,  _nanodesu_ ~" She said as she clicked her fingers. "But still amazing that you got past them in one piece."

Reimu held out her gohei. "Because I won't let anyone take any pieces out of me!" Upon finishing her sentence, she fired several danmaku straight at Rika.

Rika clicked her fingers once again, and a solid glass wall suddenly sprung out in front of her and blocked the danmaku completely.

"Nice trick..." Reimu is impressed by what the Anachronistic Engineer just did.

"This isn't even everything,  _nanodesu_ ~" Rika boasted. "Now watch this!" With that, she clicked her fingers again.

This time, slabs of metal sprung out around Rika, encasing her in a mid-sized container with only the glass wall letting her see outside. A panel of some kind also popped out inside the container on the side with the glass wall.

At the same time, the second and fourth of the five spheres have also turned white.

"Be careful, Reimu..." Genji became alerted. "I believe she is using the structure as a bastion..."

From inside the container, Rika pointed a finger at Reimu before declaring. "Now, time for you to face the firepower of the Five Magic Stones!"

The Anachronistic Engineer's declaration is then followed by the second and fourth spheres firing huge bursts of danmaku at Reimu.

* * *

Ooh, cliffhanger~ Such an overused cliché...

Anyways, sorry for not updating the story for almost a month. Had to study for college exams which meant that I have to put Fanfiction Dot Net aside and focus on my studies.

Yeah, I realized how lame it is at how the flying windmills met their demise. I wanted to get to the fight against the Five Magic Stones ASAP and kind of rushed it.

Confused by how I described the "container" surrounding Rika? That's actually the cockpit in which Rika will control the Five Magic Stones. I worded it as "container" instead of "cockpit" because I wrote the story from the perspective of Reimu, who is unable to comprehend anything resembling modern technology (like how she referred to Rika's tanks as siege machines).

Just so I don't forget it, Christmas is just five days away from the day this chapter is posted. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Changes from canon:

Where are the Two Red Dots? - I turned them into components of the platform that the Five Magic Stones sits on. The Two Red Dots were originally mid-bosses in  _SoEW_.

Reimu's comprehension of technology - It's already canon that Reimu doesn't understand technology, like one chapter of  _Forbidden Scrollery_  where she misinterpreted a luxury car and its on-board GPS as a fancy rickshaw with its driver doing the distance-to-destination announcement. In future chapters of  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_ , I'm going to crank this inability of hers up by a notch, and turn it into a running gag.

The Five Magic Stones - Nothing is said about them in canon. Here, the Five Magic Stones are part of a defense system (here described as a bastion) that Rika constructed to prevent Reimu and Genji from entering Reimaden.

The entrance to Reimaden - A doorway floating in mid-air that is missing its third dimension (simply put: it doesn't exist when observed from any direction but the front. What TVTropes refer to as [Alien Geometries](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlienGeometries)). This  _doesn't even exist_  in  _SoEW_ , so make that of what you will.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	25. A Girl and Her Bastion

**World Of Fantasies.**

The danmaku barrage fired by the Five Magic Stones is obviously too much for a human-sized target. Despite that, Reimu is trying her best to avoid being hit by the attacks of the bastion.

Although none of the shots are directed at Genji, the flying turtle is also trying his best to dodge the attacks. With so much danmaku fired all over the place, it is inevitable that at least a dozen will come flying at his direction.

Meanwhile, Rika laughed in a taunting manner as she controlled the Five Magic Stones from inside the safety of her container. "Is this too much for you? This isn't even half of it,  _nanodesu~_ "

Rings of danmaku spawned around each of the five spheres, which are then hurled toward Reimu repeatedly.

The shrine maiden trainee maneuvers herself around the shots, but one slight mistake causes her to get grazed on her left shoulder.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Reimu cried out as she rubs her left shoulder with her right hand. Although danmaku are incapable of inflicting physical injuries, anyone grazed by them will still receive a stinging pain, a severe one in Reimu's case.

"Reimu, are you alright?" Genji voiced his concern for the shrine maiden trainee.

"I'm fine..." Reimu answered. "But someone isn't going to be..." She added, with the anger in her tone evident.

Meanwhile, Rika laughed, again in a taunting manner, at Reimu being hit. "Ha ha! Like that!"

Reimu's response to the taunt is to conjure up the Ying-Yang Orb, and then literally kicking it like a ball toward the second sphere of the Five Magic Stones.

Unlike the magic-less Flower Tank that Rika previously used against Reimu, the Five Magic Stones seems to be powered by magic. That is the only explanation as to why the Ying-Yang Orb is able to smash through the second sphere, when it previously failed to make a dent in the Flower Tank.

"No. I. DON'T!" Reimu angrily replies, calling the Ying-Yang Orb back and then catching it with her hand. After managing to dodge another round of ring-pattern danmaku, the shrine maiden trainee repeats her previous attack on the fourth sphere.

Half of the fourth sphere is smashed right through by the Ying-Yang Orb, with the other half smashed as well when Reimu called the Ying-Yang Orb back to her.

Rika looked at what remains of the second and fourth spheres. "Okay, time to up the game,  _nanodesu~_ " Following that, the first and fifth spheres of the Five Magic Stones turned red.

"Do I have to destroy all five spheres to stop this thing for good?" Reimu complained at the idea of having to keep on fighting Rika's bastion.

Rika, from within the safety of her container, pointed a finger at Reimu, and said "Dodge this!". This is followed by the Five Magic Stones (including the smoldering remains of the second and fourth spheres) rapid-firing large amounts of danmaku at every direction.

Reimu maneuvers through the hail of danmaku as best as she could. When one danmaku gets too close for her to dodge, she tried deflecting it with her gohei. However, the danmaku fired by the Five Magic Stones are apparently meant for something much tougher than a mere human, since Reimu's attempt at deflecting this one resulted in her gohei getting knocked out of her hand and the danmaku continued on past her.

"Silly shrine maiden..." Rika taunted as she continues manipulating her bastion. "I originally built the Five Magic Stones to defend against things as strong as my Flower Tank!"

Gritting her teeth, Reimu located her gohei, and then dived toward it as it continued falling towards the bottomless void of the World Of Fantasies.

"There's no use going  _below_  me, Hakurei Reimu~" Rika declared as she presses a button on the panel in front of her.

The first and fifth spheres began to generate bolts of red electricity, which are then launched out of them as large-sized danmaku that then homed in toward Reimu.

Reimu grabbed her gohei before it falls any further down the void. She turned her attention back on the Five Magic Stones, and only just notices the two large balls of red electricity coming toward her very quickly, and even then just barely manages to dodge them at the last second (they weren't completely homing, as they didn't turn around after passing by her). The shrine maiden trainee didn't come close enough to either red electricity danmaku for any stray bolts of electricity to arc out and zap her, but she is still close enough that the static caused strands of her hair to stand up, quite literally in this case.

"I'm not done with you yet, machine-head!" Reimu loudly declared as she flies back toward where the Five Magic Stones are.

"You will be,  _nanodesu~_ " Rika responded in a taunting manner, then makes the first and fifth spheres of the Five Magic Stones send out two more red electricity danmaku that once again threw themselves toward Reimu.

This time, Reimu sees the red electricity danmaku coming straight toward her, and is able to get out of the way in time. After getting back to the same height elevation as the Five Magic Stones, the shrine maiden trainee retaliated, firing a series of danmaku at the first and fifth spheres.

The first and fifth spheres of the Five Magic Stones doesn't appear to be as resilient to damage as the second and fourth. While the second and fourth needed the powers of the Ying-Yang Orb to be smashed, the first and fifth began to fracture like glass after just a few hits from regular danmaku, although not enough to completely disable them.

The bastion went back to firing danmaku all over the place.

Even if she knew what to expect this time, the danmaku barrage being fired all over the place in huge numbers is still difficult for Reimu to dodge. Knowing that, the shrine maiden trainee focuses on firing her own danmaku at the Five Magic Stones while trying her best to not get hit.

Eventually, the first sphere took enough damage from Reimu's danmaku that it shattered into pieces. The fifth sphere resumed its attack pattern with the same ferocity as before, but with the first sphere knocked out, the total firepower is essentially halved. With half as much danmaku to dodge, Reimu made short work of the fifth sphere by pumping it full of danmaku.

Rika stopped smiling at this point, now that Reimu had managed to knock out four of the Five Magic Stones. "Damn it..." She cursed under her breath as she looks at the third sphere, the last one that has not been smashed yet. "You're stronger than I thought!"

Reimu crossed her arms, now taking the opportunity to boast about herself. "Well, I am going to become the next Hakurei shrine maiden, after all."

Rika gritted her teeth, and looked down at the panel in front of her for a moment.

"Come on. I'm sure you're not done yet..." Reimu pretty much dared the Anachronistic Engineer.

Genji slowly approached from behind Reimu, and said to her, "Reimu, I believe it is not wise to dare your adversary, no matter what disadvantages she is having."

The shrine maiden trainee eyed the flying turtle. "What difference does it make when I have no advantages against her?" She signaled him to move back. "This can get  _very_  troublesome for someone your age, gramps..."

Reimu then turns her attention back on Rika and the Five Magic Stones.

"Then I guess it's time to crank the difficulty up to Lunatic levels,  _nanodesu~_ " The Anachronistic Engineer announced.

All she did after her declaration is to turn what looked like a knob on the panel in front of her...

And with that, multitudes of changes occurred to the Five Magic Stones, including the very platform the whole bastion sits on. The two red circles at the back of the platform started emitting a crimson aura. The 24 holes at the front of the platform opened, and the metal tubes within extended out. The bases of the first, second, fourth and fifth spheres also raised up slightly to reveal additional weapons underneath them: under the second and fourth sphere's bases are thinner metal tubes arranged in two sets of circles each; under the first and fifth are sets of six cannons.

Reimu swallowed hard at what she just saw. "I don't know what happened, but that can't be good..."

Rika snapped her fingers. "Now that everything is set...time to have some fun~"

With the pull of a lever, Rika commanded every weapon on the Five Magic Stones to fire at once.

The sets of thin metal tubes fired danmaku while spinning so fast as to appear as blurs, the 24 metal tubes in front of the platform fired laser beams, the sets of six cannons launched projectiles that seemed to be able to change direction while leaving smoke trails in their wake.

All of those weapons missed, luckily for Reimu. But the shrine maiden trainee has a feeling that Rika made them miss  _on purpose_. "That was meant to be a demonstration, was it?" She asked, sweating nervously at what she is about to face.

"Right on,  _nanodesu~_ " Rika answers with a wink. "Now, time to get wrecked!"

* * *

This chapter became the first update I've made in the year 2017, huh? I originally intended to upload it on the 31st of December, 2016, but was forcibly dragged into preparing for the countdown to New Year by Lt Colonel Summers himself. Actually, seems that Summers was forced into it by his parents...

Anyways, Happy New Year to everyone!

Changes from canon:

Attack patterns of the Five Magic Stones (first two phases) - Everything the defense system uses are accurately modelled after their attack patterns in  _SoEW_. Except for the red electric danmaku, which are my own additions.

Third phase of the Five Magic Stones - The 24 metal tubes that fired laser beams are of course canon. But those "spinning metal tubes" and "sets of six cannons with projectiles that can change direction and left smoke trails"? Not in  _SoEW_ , at all. And in case you're wondering, do remember that Reimu is a medieval girl who's unable to comprehend modern technology. That's just how she sees Gatling Guns and Surface-to-Air Missile launchers (though in this case, both weapons systems are powered by magic).

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	26. Don't Laugh Too Soon

**Reimaden**

"What's wrong, Miss Mima?" The girl in purple asked, noticing that the evil spirit appears to be frowning.

Mima made no attempt to respond.

"You ponderin' something?" The girl in purple asked again.

Still, no respond came from the evil spirit, as she continued watching the duel between Reimu and Rika, while thinking of something.

"Hello~?" The girl in purple got impatient and tries to grab Mima's attention by waving her hand in front of her face. "Gensokyo to Miss Mima. Anyone there?" She even resorted to clapping her hands once right in front of the evil spirit's face.

That seem to have gotten Mima's attention. "Oh?" She uttered and blinked several times as she snapped out of it. "Were you asking me something?"

The girl in purple scratched her head and then told Mima, "Well... Reimu's pretty close to where we are, now. I think Rika is going to get her butt, even if she's going all serious with her entire arsenal."

Mima remained confident of the situation. "Don't worry. I still have everything under control." She said. "If worse comes to worse, I still have a backup plan."

The girl in purple dropped cold sweat upon hearing that. She swallowed hard, nervously. "And that backup plan will be..."

Mima's answer is, to no surprise to the pupil, a very straightforward one. "You."

This led to the girl in purple sighing nervously. "I freakin' knew it..."

Mima notices how nervous her pupil felt about what is told to her. "Just remember what I taught you all these times. Use the right spells at the right time, and pay close attention to your surroundings. Then everything will be alright."

...

**Outside the entrance to Reimaden; World of Fantasies.**

"Taste technological weapons, Hakurei shrine maiden!" Rika figuratively chews up the scenery as she controls the rotary guns of the Five Magic Stones to fire at Reimu. "Oh wait..." The Anachronistic Engineer suddenly thought of something. "These guns don't fire real ammo... Oh well, that doesn't really matter, anyway."

At the meantime, the aforementioned rotary guns are aiming at Reimu, firing danmaku at such a fast rate that weaving in between the shots seemed downright impossible, forcing the shrine maiden trainee to move away from where they are aiming instead.

And then there's the six-in-one cannons. Turns out the danmaku they fire have homing capabilities, which meant that they'll just turn around and resume following Reimu should she manage to dodge them. These homing danmaku can be shot out of the air, at which point they'll explode like colorless fireworks instead.

There's also the 24 tubes that fired laser beams. The beams can only fire straight forward, so they can be avoided simply by being not in front of them. But that is not exactly simple when the rotary guns and cannons are also shooting at the same time (even trying to force her in front of the lasers).

Finally there's the two red circles at the back of the bastion. Reimu had thought these two parts were just there to make the Five Magic Stones look more intimidating. But they become more intimidating when they suddenly fired pillars of red light up into the (World Of Fantasies' nonexistent) sky that then crashed down upon the shrine maiden trainee. The pillars of red light are themselves intangible and incapable of doing any harm even when Reimu fails to dodge one and get caught inside it, what they  _does_  do is neutralizing any danmaku that she tries to fire through or out of them.

The combination of these weapons made the Five Magic Stones truly an inanimate construct to be reckoned with. But what Reimu found to be the most annoying about the bastion is the Mundane Human controlling it: Rika. Her obnoxious cackle and taunts from time to time are figuratively driving Reimu crazy.

"It is my future job as a shrine maiden to protect humans, especially Mundane Humans from various supernatural being with malicious intents..." Reimu utters the first half of her complaint as she dodges the barrage of the Five Magic Stones' arsenal. "...And the most annoying thing I've faced so far  _is_  a Mundane Human! Give me a break!" She finishes the second half of her complaint and then fires several danmaku at the third sphere to no effect.

"Hey, Hakurei Reimu! Taste this!" Rika yelled out a taunt. This is followed by both six-in-one cannons firing a ludicrous amount of homing fireworks danmaku, all directed straight at Reimu.

Reimu dropped cold sweat, then tries her best to shoot down the homing danmaku while keeping her distance from them. The key word being " _try_ ", as there are more homing fireworks danmaku than it is possible for humans to count with just a brief glance.

The shrine maiden trainee shot out one homing firework danmaku a bit too late. The explosion occurred close enough to send her tumbling, but thankfully not close enough to completely knock her out of the battle.

Reimu stopped tumbling after a brief moment, but the explosion occurred at such proximity that, for the moment, her ears only registered ringing, and her eyes only blurs. She recalls from classes in the village that this is a case of mild concussion, and you get it by having explosions of any kind occurring close to you even if said explosion is a danmaku-based non-fatal one. Reimu also recalls that the only treatment of mild concussion is to wait, and it shouldn't take too long for her to recover, if the teacher is right.

Unfortunately for Reimu, waiting is not exactly a good idea when you're facing a heavily armed, danmaku-spewing bastion at the moment.

The shrine maiden trainee is very sure Rika just delivered another taunt, but she couldn't tell what the exact words are when all she hears is ringing. Because she couldn't see anything but blurs, Reimu couldn't tell the exact location of the danmaku hat are coming toward her, and had to rely on remembering the location of the origins of those danmaku. Even then, being unable to see or hear due to mild concussion is dangerously inconvenient when in the middle of a barrage of danmaku.

Luckily, Rika isn't very accurate with her aim when she is controlling several danmaku-spewing devices simultaneously, so the best those shots did to Reimu are grazing her. But with limited sight and hearing, as well as complete reliance on instinct and luck for the moment, that is a  _lot_  of grazes the shrine maiden trainee have to endure. Doesn't help that Reimu can't even hear herself gasping whenever she feels a danmaku grazing her.

After a minute of instinct-and-luck-based grazing, the mild concussion is beginning to wear off, and Reimu is slowly regaining her ability to see and hear...

...And the first thing she sees upon recovering from the mild concussion is the third sphere of the Five Magic Stones projecting a thin, harmless beam of light at her.

Knowing this is an indication of a huge laser being charged, Reimu instinctively dived downwards (as the mass of danmaku fired by the rotary guns made going upwards not an option) and, sure enough, the third sphere fired a single, but truly massive laser at where she was seconds ago.

As soon as the massive laser died out, Reimu quickly flew back up to evade the 24 small lasers that could only fire straight forward.

"Well I have to say, you were good at dodging huge amounts of shots fired at you..." Rika commented on how long the shrine maiden trainee has lasted against her heavily armed bastion. The Anachronistic Engineer, however, can also be seen laughing while pointing at Reimu. In fact, she is laughing about the shrine maiden trainee's current condition so much that her hands are no longer on the panel, which caused the Five Magic Stones to come to a complete halt.

"What are you laughing at?!" Reimu doesn't take being laughed at (and she is pretty sure this laugh is not a taunt-based one) kindly, and asked angrily, more so than before since this is the first thing she hears after recovering from the mild concussion.

The shrine maiden trainee quickly found out on her own what Rika is laughing about: her clothes being torn all over by the grazes from during her mild concussion, with her hair ribbon being nearly reduced to nothing but bits of singed cloth, which caused her ponytail to be undone.

After what she went through fighting Konngara, Sariel and their entourages last month, Reimu have learned to pay little attention to damages done to her shrine maiden robes as long as the damages don't compromise her modesty. But the ribbon...

"You...destroyed...my...ribbon..." Reimu told Rika with a tone of tranquil fury that put an end to the latter's laughing and sent chills down her spine.

"I think... I just pressed her berserk button..." Rika told herself, for it is now her turn to drop cold sweat and swallow hard.

Reimu conjured the Ying-Yang Orb, which seemed to be glowing more brilliantly than before. "YOU! DESTROYED! MY! RIBBON!" She shouted with maximum anger at Rika.

"Oh no. Oh no!" Rika pretty much panicked at the sight of the furious shrine maiden, as she quickly scrambled to resume her control on the Five Magic Stones.

"YOU DESTROYED MY RIBBON!" Reimu, now more furious than ever, yelled loudly before she launches the Ying-Yang Orb by kicking it toward the third sphere of the Five Magic Stones.

The third sphere is resilient enough that it wasn't destroyed outright by the Ying-Yang Orb hitting it, but it didn't completely shrug off the attack either. In fact, the Ying-Yang Orb hit it with so much force that the entire bastion shook with it and temporarily knocked Rika off balance.

Rika quickly climbed back up and, in a moment of panic, just pressed buttons and pulled levers at random, doing anything it takes for her to bring down a furious-beyond-comprehension, purple-haired, flying shrine maiden trainee who's overreacting about a simple hair decoration.

The rage must've made Reimu much better at dodging danmaku, because despite the Five Magic Stone firing all of its weapons at random, the shrine maiden trainee still weaved through the barrage which is several magnitudes thicker than the previous one.

"YOU DESTROYED MY RIBBON!" Reimu repeated the same rage-fuelled words, as she kicks the Ying-Yang Orb a second time toward the third sphere while simultaneously firing her own danmaku at it.

Although the regular danmaku are erased by the pillars of red light, the Ying-Yang Orb simply barreled through them as it is a solid projectile. The Ying-Yang Orb continued to smash its way through every other danmaku the Five Magic Stones fire at it.

Panicking more than before, Rika had the third sphere take aim and then fire the massive laser at the Ying-Yang Orb. The massive laser blasted it with enough force to slow its trajectory, but it is still heading toward the third sphere.

With a loud crash, the Ying-Yang Orb impacted the third sphere a second time, which caused the massive laser to die out instantly. This time, not only is the sphere cracked all over because of the impact, it is also slightly but visibly dislodged from its base.

"This thing is not going to last another hit from that thing..." At this point in Reimu's fury, Rika is starting to become worried about the condition of the Five Magic Stones. When she tries to have the bastion perform a counterattack...

...It fails to respond to any commands she issues. The rotary guns, six-in-one cannons, 24 lasers, the third sphere itself...all went completely idle after the second impact.

Rika's face went totally pale. "A malfunction, right now?!" She uttered, completely immobilized by fear. "I'm deader than dead,  _na...no...de...su_..."

Reimu catches the Ying-Yang Orb as it returns to her. "You'll pay for destroying my ribbon!" She declared, before kicking the Ying-Yang Orb for a third time toward the third sphere.

Rika couldn't do anything from inside her container as she watched the Ying-Yang Orb flying toward her bastion like a cannonball. "Is a simple hair ribbon really worth literally killing someone for...?!" These are the last words she uttered before the Ying-Yang Orb impacts the third sphere for the third time.

The third impact produced a loud crash, which is immediately followed by a loud boom as the last of the five spheres went off in a big explosion. Multiple smaller explosions occurred all over the Five Magic Stones' platform after that, followed by a second big one from right under Rika, which obliterated her container but strangely enough, simply launched her out of it without doing her physical harm.

" _Nanodesu~_!" Rika yelled, her cry trailing off for the entire duration she is sent airborne by the second big explosion. The Anachronistic Engineer landed on the remains of the third sphere, where she then goes limp and seemingly out cold.

Reimu breathed heavily for a while, tired out from all those dodging and grazing and rage-fuelled finishing-off of the Five Magic Stones and the human girl that controlled the bastion. "No one...destroys...my ribbon...and gets away... with it..."

Genji, who had retreated from the intense battle and just came back, dropped cold sweat. "I do not understand why a simple article of decorative clothing is worth almost killing someone else over..."

Reimu took a while to calm down before she answers the flying turtle. "Someone ancient like you is never going to understand it, gramps..." The shrine maiden trainee's voice indicates that she is still angry about losing her hair ribbon.

Genji sighed. "Then I shall not ask any more about your personal opinion...until you have settled everything with Mima..."

"Now if you excuse me, I have one little thing to do..." Reimu said as she approached Rika and hovered before her.

Rika comes to, and slowly pushes herself off the ground...and her face immediately went pale when she sees Reimu standing before her with an intimidating look on her face.

"W...wait, Reimu!" Rika pleaded for Reimu to spare her. "I w...was forced to do this! I never had the idea to pick fights with you, but this lady came to me and..."

Reimu silences Rika by pointing her gohei at the latter's mouth. "I know Mima dragged you into this, and maybe she did threaten you to destroy my shrine, but I'm not going to punish you for that..."

Hearing that, Rika sighed in relief. "I thought I was a goner..."

"But..." Reimu suddenly added, which made Rika feel tense again. "You're going to have to pay...for destroying my ribbon!"

With that said, Reimu raised her gohei above her head, and then brought it down upon Rika's head like a club...

...

**Reimaden.**

"Remind me  _not_  to touch her ribbon under any circumstances!" The girl in purple shrugged after seeing just how much Reimu overreacted to losing her hair ribbon.

"I will." Mima replied jokingly. The Evil Spirit couldn't help but find the shrine maiden trainee's overreaction amusing, despite that very overreaction knocking Rika and the Five Magic Stones out of the whole plan.

The girl in purple turned toward the direction the curse Youkai and Evil Eyes exited Reimaden at, then back at Mima with a shrug. "I'm still not sure if fightin' Reimu was a good idea, 'specially after we both saw what she did to poor Rika..."

"Not alone, if that is what you are thinking, young lady." Mima reassured the girl in purple. "You are not my only pupil, remember?"

That reassurance helped the girl in regaining her confidence. "Oh, right. I'll like Reimu to see what we witches are capable of." She said with a smile.

"Now, let us not keep the shrine maiden waiting." Mima added. "Shall we, Marisa G. Kirisame?"

The girl in purple groaned at first. "Please, drop the 'G' from my name..." And then she pulls a magic wand from out of her purple pointy hat. "But now I'm ready to kick some butt, whenever you are, Miss Mima!"

Mima smiled. "Glad to hear that. Now, let's let Hakurei Reimu into our domain, and the final part of my plan will be complete..."

* * *

Well, that took long enough.

Gosh, the fight against the Five Magic Stones, especially the heavily upgraded version in this fan remake of the  _Touhou_  franchise, took very long to finish. Probably because the Five Magic Stones is a huge defense system instead of a single danmaku-spewing human/fairy/Youkai/goddess/Lunarian, which meant more things to describe. Which reminds me, the Five Magic Stones are probably the only boss in the entire series to act like the boss of a traditional SHMUP (where the bosses are usually gigantic war machines or heavily armed buildings).

And now that Reimu has defeated Rika and the Five Magic Stones, it is time for our intrepid shrine maiden trainee to enter Reimaden and face our favorite star-shooting witch, Marisa Kirisame (if you're wondering about how I wrote Marisa's full name up there, see below for answers), before moving on to Mima and finishing the  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_  arc. Can't wait to get started on the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc and see the remade version of Okazaki Yumemi~

Changes from canon:

Five Magic Stones' arsenal - Already covered in the previous chapter. And "homing fireworks danmaku" is just how medieval-minded Reimu sees modern Surface-to-Air Missiles.

Reimu's overreaction to her ribbon - This goes without saying (that it's not in  _Touhou_  canon). Yeah, don't touch Reimu's ribbon. Take my word for it...

Marisa G. Kirisame - You're definitely wondering why I wrote Marisa's full name in the western order instead of the Asian order of  **Kirisame Marisa**  when I wrote Reimu's as  **Hakurei Reimu**. Well, if that G in the middle of her name hasn't tipped you off already, I changed Marisa from being a pure Japanese to an American-Japanese, and even have her speak with a genuine American accent and  _not_  a translated Kansai-ben to drive the point further. As for that G in her name...well, let's just say that Marisa doesn't like her given middle name.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	27. Motivation By Magic

**Entrance to Reimaden.**

"So what now?" Reimu wondered as she looks at the logic-defying strange doorway that is missing its third dimension that sat right behind the Five Magic Stones (or what's left of the bastion, with the unconscious Rika laying in the middle of it). "Am I suppose to open this...door myself, or wait for someone to do it?"

Genji took a look at the doorway before answering Reimu. "I do not know. Perhaps the latter option is to be considered..."

That being said, the strange door suddenly begins to slowly fade away, leaving behind just the doorframe...

...And a corridor that started out completely enveloped in the shadows, but becomes lit by blue hues not too far past said shadows. The unorthodox opening of the strange doorway also let out a small gust of wind.

Reimu became dazzled by the sight. "Even with magic, I don't know how to explain this..." The shrine maiden trainee commented.

"I would say the same..." Genji also commented.

Reimu gripped her gohei tightly. "Right. This is where I'll be facing Mima. She's not easy last time, and definitely won't be easy this time..."

As if on cue, Mima suddenly materialized at the now-open doorway. The Evil Spirit looked different this time, though. She is now wearing a blue cap, a blue, light-blue, and green dress with white symbols on it under a long purple cape. She is also wielding a long scepter topped with a crescent. Were it not for her ghostly lack of feet, Mima could easily pass off as a human.

**Reincarnated Dark Sorceress**

**Mima**

"It's been a while, Hakurei Reimu..." Mima greeted the shrine maiden trainee with an evil-looking smirk.

Reimu ignored the fact that the Evil Spirit doesn't look depressed and is dressed like an actual sorceress, but she remembers clearly that this is the same Evil Spirit that she fought the month before. "MIMA! I should have exorcised you the last time we met!" Finishing her furious declaration, the shrine maiden trainee immediately fires several danmaku at Mima.

Mima simply pointed her scepter forward. This is immediately followed by the appearance of a dark blue aura surrounding her, which then caused Reimu's danmaku to go around her.

Reimu became surprised by what had just happened. So is Genji.

"Silly girl..." Mima taunted as she retracts her scepter. "Do you actually think you can hit a powerful sorceress like me with such a simple attack?"

Reimu tries to fire more danmaku, but is then told off by Genji.

"I believe offense is not quite the effective option here..." The flying turtle said.

Reimu gritted her teeth as she temporarily puts off all intents to attack. "What do you want, by sending me a challenge?" She asked Mima.

Mima crossed her arms. "I still have some unfinished business with humanity, and I intend to finish it." The Evil Spirit gives a direct answer. "But first, I need to get  _you_  out of my way..."

"One month since we first met, and you still have such an ambitious plan..." Reimu lamented. "At least you're not creepy now..."

Mima actually scoffed upon hearing that. "You actually remember me as I am from last month. But what you see now is not the only changes I've made to myself..." She then raises her left hand, and gestured in a commanding manner.

Reimu didn't understand the gesture and became confused by it. "What are you do..."

But the shrine maiden trainee is interrupted mid-sentence by a colorful barrage of danmaku that came from the shadows of the corridor behind Mima.

Reimu dodges the surprise barrage at the best of her ability. She manages to avoid being hit...until one small green danmaku with an also-green trail that she dodged had suddenly exploded into several hundred tiny danmaku that peppered her in the back.

"Gyah!" Reimu cried out. Being hit by the shower of tiny danmaku isn't as painful as being hit by regular danmaku, but the feeling is still rather unpleasant for a human. "Where did those come from?!"

Genji went wide-eyed when he looked behind Mima. "She is not by herself!" He called out to Reimu. "Mima appears to have her own followers!"

Reimu took a brief look behind Mima. True enough, there were several dozen figures dotted all over the corridor. They all appeared to be human teenage girls, wielding wands and scepters of all shapes and sizes, with just as much variation of outfits as their choice of weapons (although the most common traits of said outfits are the pointy hat and knee-length skirts) . Some of these girls are riding on what appeared to be flying broomsticks, and some seemed to be flying on their own power.

"Who...? What...? Why...?" Reimu didn't know what to say about Mima having her own followers.

Mima let out an evil laugh. "Hakurei Reimu, I'll let you in on the truth..." She then tells the shrine maiden trainee. "These girls... They've always wanted to learn magic but couldn't because the village forbade it. They even felt like running away from their homes because of it. So, I convinced them, in their dreams, to actually run away from their homes in the middle of the night. Three weeks later, I have so many pupils I might as well be running my own school..."

Reimu isn't satisfied with the answer. "Well...how do you convince them so, if your plan is to destroy all humans? I'm pretty sure your...pupils... are humans too..."

Mima tsk-tsk-ed. "You have no idea how powerfully convincing the combination of resentment and magic can be..."

Reimu frowned. "Well... If that is the case, then maybe I should try to convince you..." The shrine maiden trainee suddenly conjured the Ying-Yang Orb and kicked it with full force toward Mima. "...To just surrender yourself!"

Mima is most certainly caught by surprise, as the evil smirk faded from her face instantly. Raising her scepter up, she deflected the Ying-Yang Orb by simply swatting at it.

"Ugh... You've gotten smarter with the way you attack...by keeping me distracted with your questions..." The Evil Spirit said with a frown. "Well, then. I will be waiting for you at the end of this corridor...if you can get past my pupils, that is..."

With that said, Mima pointed her scepter at Reimu. Reimu was preparing for an attack from the Evil Spirit, but none came.

"GET HER!" Mima yelled out in a commanding way before literally disappearing into thin air.

"With pleasure, Miss Mima~" Some of Mima's pupils acknowledged the command cheerfully. Their voice at least proved to Reimu that they are still human.

"Here they come, Reimu!" Genji warned of Mima's pupils getting ready to attack. Before the flying turtle can spit out another word, one of Mima's pupils had hit him with a spell that trapped him in a transparent ball of magical energy.

That girl is the same one that knocked out the curse-casting Youkai a while ago. "Don't worry, guys. I got this!" She said to the other girls before turning toward Reimu. "Oh, hi! Reimu! You don't look as cute without your ribbon! And your outfit is a complete mess, like 'full-of-holes' mess!" The girl in purple greeted the shrine maiden trainee with a smile. "S'prised you with my sneak attack on Noroiko back in the forest, did I?"

**Apprentice Witch of Stars**

**Marisa G. Kirisame**

Reimu reacted in surprise when she heard the girl speak. "That voice and speech pattern... Kirisame Marisa, would that be you?" The shrine maiden trainee knew this girl, Marisa, as the daughter of a well known merchant in the village, who has quite a bit of infamy amongst the villagers for causing all sorts of trouble in her attempts to learn magic, and even skipped classes several times. She just suddenly disappeared three weeks ago - which was exactly one week after Reimu's encountering of Konngara and Sariel - and didn't return home or show up for class for that period of time.

Marisa is also noted by the villagers to speak with a rather...strange accent. In fact, Reimu is pretty sure Marisa isn't even speaking the same language as she does, and is only because of translation magic that language barrier isn't an issue.

The girl in purple rolled her eyes upon hearing that. "Drat, three weeks we haven't seen each other and this still freakin' happens...how many times do I hav'ta tell you, my name is read as  **Marisa Kirisame** , not the other way around?!"

"Never mind that! Why is your hair red instead of black?!" Reimu dismissed Marisa's complaint. "Moreover, why are you, the daughter of a merchant, studying magic under an evil spirit who have plans to destroy humanity?!"

Marisa snapped her fingers, which produced a spark that's literally shaped like a star. "Well, that magic-loathin' dad of mine can forget about ever havin' me as his daughter!" She responded defiantly.

"Well, Marisa...it looks like I will have to drag you back to the village myself..." Reimu declared as she whips out her gohei. "...After I beat some sense into your mentor and seal her..."

"No freakin' way!" Marisa gave another defiant response. "I'd rather stay with Miss Mima! The village and my dad can go to Makai!" Saying that, she proceed to cast a spell at Reimu. "Take this!"

Reimu easily dodges that spell. She then returns fire with her own danmaku at Marisa.

Marisa wasn't as good at dodging danmaku as Reimu. The apprentice witch got grazed a couple of times while only managing to dodge exactly one danmaku. "Uh, I wanted to say something, but my mind's totally blank...uh..." She turns toward her fellow magicians and said, "You guys stall Reimu while I go get myself ready!" She then flies off toward the deeper end of the corridor on her flying broomstick.

"Ugh, that Marisa...how did her parents cope with her insanity for 15 years...?" Reimu lamented. She then turns toward Genji. "You alright there, gramps?"

Genji is still trapped in the ball of magical energy. "I am fine, but I may not be able to follow you the rest of the way..." He answers. "But be careful, the pupils of Mima are human Magicians, making them entirely different foes compared to the fairies..."

"I know..." Reimu said, just as she leans to the side to dodge the beams that the Novice Mages fired at her with their wands. She immediately shoots back at them, finding out in the process that it takes more danmaku to knock down a human Magician than Mundane Humans or even fairies for that matter. "And one of them just demonstrated to me..."

As Reimu entered the Corridor of Reimaden without Genji, she finds herself facing several dozens human girls, all dressed in magician garments and brandishing wands. Some are running toward Reimu while casting spells at her from their wands or scepters, some are doing the same on their flying broomsticks or flying on their own powers.

"I can't believe I didn't even notice this many girls disappearing from the village..." Reimu lamented as she prepares herself for the onslaught of human Magicians. "I have a feeling I will face weirder things in the future..."

* * *

Sorry I was late at uploading this chapter, because I had to get a college homework finished and submitted within the deadline last week, and could not spare any time in writing this chapter.

Anyways, the updated version of Marisa is introduced, and I had to say, simulating an American accent in literature is a difficult thing to do, especially when it requires you to ignore your PC's spellchecker for thinkin' of this 'ere letter-droppin' as typos. And yes, I'm serious about it when I said I changed Marisa's nationality from pure Japanese to American-Japanese...

Well, to be honest, this nationality thing is a headache to explain. I'll let you guys interpret the rest with your own theories.

If you have any questions to ask about the story so far, drop them in your Reviews and I'll try my best to answer them.

Changes from canon:

Mima and Marisa's appearance - The both of them do not appear until the very end of Stage 4 in  _SoEW_. This shouldn't need any more explaining.

Mima's pupils - I have already mentioned this before, right? Marisa is Mima's only pupil in canon. The main point being their motives for siding with Mima...

Marisa's profile -  _SoEW_  Stage 4 was the first time Reimu met Marisa. Here, Reimu and Marisa had known each other for quite a while. In addition, Marisa is also noted by the village humans for the fact that her accent isn't quite normal by Japanese standards, because she speaks with an American accent and is actually speaking English. Speaking of language...

Translation magic - I probably wouldn't consider this as a deviation from canon. Because if translation magic didn't exist in  _Touhou_  canon, then the obviously western characters like the Scarlet Sisters and Alice would have one hell of a language barrier when speaking with Reimu (who is shown in a panel in  _Forbidden Scrollery_  to not understand English at all), and I doubt they actually speak any Japanese...

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	28. Colors of Magic

**Reimaden**

Reimu, as a shrine maiden trainee of the Hakurei shrine, had always thought that the enemies she'll be coming across will consist solely of fairies, Youkai and various supernatural beings and construct.

 _Well, this trip proved otherwise._  Reimu thought to herself. She never expected that humans will actually be tougher to defeat than the aforementioned supernatural beings. In fact, the most dangerous opponent she has faced up to this point is Rika, a mere Mundane Human with no magical powers whatsoever.  _And these pupils of Mima certainly are no weaklings either..._

After Marisa Kirisame had made getaway, the red-haired witch's fellow magicians pressed on with their offensive spell-casting, flinging one spell danmaku after another at Reimu. And these were no normal danmaku either, as they could do all sorts of things like splitting into several fragments that then spread out toward all directions.

Reimu tries to dodge one such spell danmaku. But she didn't get far away enough from the danmaku, as the fragments it splits into immediately peppered the shrine maiden trainee. As with the previous example of such spell danmaku, the fragments are not powerful enough to instantly knock her out but are still very unpleasant to be peppered with.

Getting hit didn't stop Reimu, though. The shrine maiden trainee kept on flying through the corridor of Reimaden, firing danmaku at the magician girls and avoiding their spells as she passed by them. For now, she is fixated on getting to the end of the corridor (where Mima currently waits for her in, she presumed)...

...And catching up with Marisa. That witch has a lot to explain.

"Get the heck away, Reimu!" Marisa said as she notices the shrine maiden trainee catching up. Getting her wand out, the witch launched a shower of star-shaped danmaku at Reimu. "I ain't gonna go back with ya!"

Reimu weaves through the star danmaku shower, then fires a few danmaku at Marisa. "Don't force me to actually shoot you down, Marisa! This is for your own good!"

Marisa didn't dodge Reimu's danmaku. Instead, the witch casted some kind of barrier spell that deflected the danmaku. "No freakin' way,  _ze_!"

Reimu groaned upon hearing Marisa's response. However, its not because of her defiance, but rather, the fact that she just ended her sentence with the  _ze_  phrase. The phrase makes absolutely no grammatical sense (if translation magic fails to translate it), and Reimu wondered from where Marisa had picked it up.

"Come on, guys! Why couldn't anyone of you get a freakin' hit on her?!" Marisa called out to her fellow magicians. "I thought Miss Mima didn't make us try to hit fast-moving targets for nothing!" She then speeds off on her flying broomstick at speeds that a human, by logic, shouldn't be able to handle (then again, Gensokyo is very strange when it comes to logic).

"I am not done with you yet, Marisa!" Reimu called out to the witch, as she uses her gohei to bash a magician off her flying broomstick.

The shrine maiden trainee noted, at this point, that the completely dark section of the corridor is pretty short and that she is already entering the part with the blue hue. The middle of the corridor floor here appears to be made of (ethereal) glass, with what appears to be a black sun who-knows-how-far below it.

A magician with a staff as long as she is tall appeared from out of nowhere, and proceeds to fire a single red spell danmaku at Reimu. The red spell danmaku impacted the corridor floor in front of Reimu and erupted into a simple but big explosion that forced her to stop flying forward to avoid being caught in.

"Go back home, all of you!" Reimu said angrily as she shoots down the staff-wielding magician and several others that suddenly appeared. "Why are you all attacking the Hakurei shrine maiden trainee?! Because Mima told you to do so?!" Of course, Reimu is expecting that question to be not answered by anyone.

With the magicians in front of her dealt with, Reimu continued on her current path, just as a group of magicians including another one with a long staff appeared from behind and started firing danmaku at her. They all missed, though, leaving Reimu to wonder why most people have such awful accuracy with ranged attacks of any kind, while the shrine maiden trainee simultaneously shoots down those magicians.

...

After having traversed what seemed to be halfway through the corridor of Reimaden, Reimu began to find it tiring that she has to shoot down a group of Mima's pupils every few seconds or so...within the span of about ten minutes.

"Just...how many girls have gone missing from the village...?" She wondered out loud as she shoots down a broom-riding magician. "I've already lost count at about 42..."

That thought is then interrupted by the sudden reappearance of Marisa. This time, the witch in purple is riding on what appeared to be a flower.

"I'm back, Reimu!" Marisa declared while brandishing her wand. "What do you think of me?"

Reimu looked at Marisa's flower with a bit of scrutiny. "Uh...that flower is pretty strange, even by the standards of being strange..."

Marisa simply sighed in response. "I get that a freakin' lot from everyone." She then points her wand at Reimu, but didn't cast any spell. "I'm gonna be serious with ya, Reimu..."

Reimu crossed her arms, but kept a tight grip on her gohei. "You? Be serious with me? That's new. I guess your hair color isn't the only thing that changed, ze..."

"You don't know how much I've changed...you purple hair..." Marisa responds, the last part said in an insulting way in conjunction with a giggle.

The shrine maiden trainee is left stammering there as she is unable to come up with a proper response. Marisa does have a little point, Reimu is in no position to criticize the witch's unnatural red hair when she has an equally unnatural purple hair.

"Got ya right there, huh?" Marisa snickered, waving her wand around in a taunting manner. "Haha! I'm the bes..."

The witch's self-praise is quickly interrupted when Reimu decided to fire several danmaku at her direction. Marisa casts a barrier spell again to deflect the danmaku. "Damn, that was a sneaky move..." She said as she dispel her barrier. "Do we actually have to fight each other?"

Reimu points her gohei at Marisa, and then declares, "If you won't give me a good reason on why you went to Mima...I will have to beat some sense into you."

Marisa could tell that Reimu is rather serious about it. "Uh, listen to me, Reimu..." She tries to say something.

Reimu isn't allowing the witch to say anything. "You probably have no good reason, anyway!" That said, the shrine maiden trainee summoned her Ying-Yang Orb. "Kirisame Marisa, on behalf of the village and your parents, I will knock some sense into you!"

Recalling what she saw the Ying-Yang Orb to be capable of, Marisa panicked at the prospect of actually being attacked by the aforementioned weapon. "No use reasonin' with her right now!" She told herself as she raises her wand. "Just as Miss Mima had taught me, I need to keep my cool...get the spell ready...Holy expletive!" The witch narrowly manages to avoid being hit directly by the launched Ying-Yang Orb by leaning to the side, with the clearance so small it might as well be nonexistent. "No freakin' way I can dodge it again when it comes back. Its now or never!"

The Ying-Yang Orb turns around after having passed b Marisa without hitting her. It was coming back so quickly, any attempts at dodging it would be futile.

"Alright then... Orreries' Solar System!" Raising her wand above her head, Marisa casted a spell, causing the materialization of four differently colored orbs around her, right as the Ying-Yang Orb hits her squarely in the back...

...And literally bounced right off without doing anything to her.

"Huh?!" Reimu is surprised that Marisa managed to, at the last second, cast a spell that allowed her to shrug off a direct hit from the Ying-Yang Orb. She then calls the Ying-Yang Orb back to her.

Marisa looked at the multicolored orbs that materialized around her. "I actually did it..." She the looks at Reimu and crosses her arms. "Ha, take that, Reimu! Here's somethin' Miss Mima taught me to use!"

Reimu couldn't believe it. She fired a few danmaku straight at Marisa in response.

Marisa doesn't even flinch as those danmaku are deflected off of a magic shield that formed around her.

"Nope, sorry!" Marisa said in a taunting manner. "You ain't gonna be able to do anything to me for as long as I have 'em, ze!" She added as she points at the multicolored orbs currently orbiting around her. "And I'm gonna kick your butt with them!"

Finishing her declaration, the witch begins by firing a huge shower of danmaku from her multicolored orbs at Reimu.

"By the way, Reimu, my name is Marisa Kirisame, not the other way around! Can't you freakin' remember that?!" Marisa added in the middle of her opening attack.

"Why do you insist on having your given name before your surname?! Are you not Yamato, but a  _gaijin_?!" Reimu said while weaving through the huge shower of danmaku that are fired at her.

"Gai-wha...?" Marisa became a bit confused at the last word. "The heck are we even discussin' it?! We should be fightin' right now! C'mon!"

* * *

The fight with our favorite kleptomaniac witch begins. With a bit of leaning against the Fourth Wall at the very end of this chapter.

Although strictly speaking, Marisa is not my favorite character. That title belongs to someone that has yet to appear in  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_ , and won't be for quite a while.

So we're nearing the end of the  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_  arc. I'm already excited about starting the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc, even though I still have the fight against Marisa and Mima to clear up before doing so.

The last time I brought up the term "Yamato" is back at Reimu's encounter with Elis. I have already established that the word "Yamato" refers to people who are Japanese. So being an American-Japanese, Marisa would be only half-Yamato.

Changes from canon:

This level - In  _SoEW_ , you fight through a large waves of flying windmills and some other magical constructs while travelling through the corridors of Reimaden. Here, Reimu chases Marisa while simultaneously fighting Mima's other pupils.

Where is Matenshi? - To be honest, I'm blank on how I can depict a fight scene with Matenshi as the boss. So I've decided to give her the same treatment as Kikuri, and reduce her role to that of an extra character, skipping straight to Marisa. Apologies...

Orreries' Solar System - Ah, Marisa's infamous attack from  _SoEW_. Unlike in  _SoEW_ , though, Marisa opens with it instead of a normal set of danmaku fired from her wand. Do note that her being invincible for as long as Orreries' Solar System is active is actually a key element of the fight against her in  _SoEW_.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	29. Magical Marisa

**Corridor of Reimaden.**

_Marisa is a lot harder than she looks..._

That's what Reimu thought of as she dodges the danmaku Marisa fires with her multicolored orbs.

The shrine maiden trainee then fires some more danmaku at Marisa. Again, the danmaku did nothing due to the barrier surrounding Marisa.

"Put up a better fight, will ya?" Marisa dared Reimu as she fires even more danmaku all over the place with her multicolored orbs.

Reimu tries her best to squeeze through the gaps between the danmaku. "Who wants their opponent to be more challenging for them?!" She said at the same time. "Your mindset is just as strange as your speech pattern...and the way you look!"

Marisa is once again confused at what Reimu just said, but didn't cease her attacks on the shrine maiden trainee. "Th...the way I look?"

Reimu has a point here. Even without her unusual hair color, Marisa is also notable for having blue eyes and white skin, none of which anyone else in the village have. Marisa is also pretty tall compared to girls as old as she is. This left everyone who knows the witch wondering why she, appearance wise, looked absolutely nothing like a Yamato, despite her father being a Yamato.

"Okay, I admit I looked nothin' like the other girls in the village..." Marisa said in response while firing some more danmaku. "But izzit such a big deal to you that you have to talk 'bout it,  _in the middle of a fight_?"

"I wasn't even expecting you to take offense to that!" Reimu said as she dodges the shower of danmaku and returns fire.

Again, those danmaku have absolutely no effect on Marisa as they are deflected by the barrier surrounding her. "Then let's leave it aside 'til one of us goes down!" The witch said as she fires off another shower of danmaku.

"Agreed!" Reimu answers, dodging those danmaku and swiping a few with her gohei. As a counterattack, she summons the Ying-Yang Orb and launches it toward Marisa.

The barrier around Marisa allowed her to shrug off the Ying-Yang Orb. But as the Orb bounced off of her, it went and hit one of the multicolored orbs surrounding the witch. While the impact did not nudge the multicolored orb out of orbit, it did cause a fracture to spawn.

Not noticing the fracture, Marisa resumed with her attacks. "Let there be light!" She pointed her wand at Reimu, from which several laser beams shot out of (as well as from the multicolored orbs) at random directions but generally towards Reimu.

These laser beams are just way too fast for them to be humanly possible to dodge, but other than one beam grazing Reimu by her chin, the rest of them missed (albeit by an almost unnoticeable margin).

"Oh, I guess as the 'bad girl' in this case, anything I throw at Reimu is very likely to miss, ze..." Marisa scratched her head as she expresses disbelief.

"I'm actually glad that you realized it..." Reimu said with a deadpan look on her face. "By the way, I think one of your orbs has a fracture..." She added whilst pointing a finger at the fractured orb.

"Huh?" Marisa looks confused as to what the shrine maiden trainee means by that. Then she sees the aforementioned fracture on the aforementioned orb. "Oh, ya gotta be kiddin'..."

"No, I am not kidding~" Reimu responds with a grin, and then fires a small barrage of danmaku, this time aimed straight at the fractured orb.

Before Marisa could react, danmaku peppered the fractured orb, causing the fracture to spread even further across its surface until the orb gives way and shatters into non-corporeal pieces that quickly faded into nothingness.

"I...I thought..." Marisa stuttered as she is surprised by what had just happened.

"Didn't study hard enough, I guess." Reimu said while waving a finger at the witch.

Marisa gritted her teeth. Then with a wave of her wand, she repositioned the remaining multicolored orbs so that they form an upward-pointing triangle. "Alright... You wanna be serious? I'm gonna be serious, then!"

Reimu brings forth the Ying-Yang Orb in response. "Happy to oblige..."

The fight then resumes with both girls firing danmaku at each other.

Marisa fires a barrage of danmaku at Reimu, who tries her best to slip through the gaps and occasionally swipe out some danmaku with her gohei.

Reimu counterattacks by launching the Ying-Yang Orb at Marisa. The Ying-Yang Orb impacts another one of the witch's multicolored orbs, this time hard enough to shatter it outright.

"Okay, time for something new, then..." Marisa remarks upon losing yet another multicolored orb. Waving her wand again, she positions the remaining two multicolored orbs by her sides. "Light 'er up!" Marisa declares as she points her wand at Reimu.

Both multicolored orbs then fire laser beams that are aimed straight at Reimu.

Reimu dodges one beam by leaning to the side, but this left her with no room to dodge the other beam, resulting in her getting grazed at her torso.

The shrine maiden trainee swallowed hard as she resisted the urge to cry out in pain. She retaliates by firing danmaku at the multicolored orbs.

Having learned what her own weakness was, Marisa made her multicolored orbs move around her randomly to make them harder to hit. Although a number of danmaku still hit their mark, resulting in both multicolored orbs becoming cracked.

"Hold still, will ya?" Marisa said as she makes the multicolored orbs fire another pair of laser beams.

"You hold still!" Reimu responds, this time dodging the beams by diving under their trajectory, and then firing more danmaku at the multicolored orbs.

Marisa tries to move the multicolored orbs around to make it harder for danmaku to hit them. It works...until Reimu suddenly decides to launch the Ying-Yang Orb at her. Not able to react in time, the witch loses a third multicolored orb as it shatters upon being hit by the to the Ying-Yang Orb.

"Marisa, give up right now, and I might just reconsider about beating some sense into you..." Reimu demanded while pointing her gohei at Marisa.

"No freakin' way!" Marisa's response is to position the last multicolored orb in front of herself. "I should be the one sayin' that to ya!" As she said that, the last multicolored orb started to glow brighter than before. "Alright, then. I'm gonna let you feel the RAINBOW!"

Marisa's declaration is soon followed by a very wide laser in the form of a rainbow being fired out of the multicolored orb, straight at Reimu.

The shrine maiden trainee's first instinct is to get out of the way, and she just barely does so by throwing herself to the side.

"I'm drawin' the line here, Reimu!" Marisa announces with sheer enjoyment. "This is my best one yet!" The witch proceeds to literally draw a line with the rainbow laser as she makes it follow Reimu around. Wherever Reimu goes, the rainbow laser follows her.

At one point in her flying away from the rainbow laser, Reimu suddenly decides to do a midair somersault over the rainbow laser, causing it to overshoot her and continue on its trajectory as Marisa couldn't readjust her aim quickly enough. Seizing this window of opportunity, Reimu summons the Ying-Yang Orb and launches it at Marisa. "Your line stops here!" The shrine maiden trainee delivered.

"Uh, oh!" Marisa panicked when she saw the Ying-Yang Orb heading straight for her last multicolored orb. She directed the rainbow laser at it, and her mouth went agape upon seeing that the Ying-Yang Orb is completely ignoring her rainbow laser and continued on its path toward her.

The Ying-Yang Orb impacts the multicolored orb. With a loud shattering noise, the last multicolored orb is obliterated, dispelling Marisa's Orreries Solar System spell as the barrier around her disintegrates.

Worse for the witch yet: the Ying-Yang Orb still hasn't stopped, and is heading straight toward her.

"Freakin' unbelievable..." Marisa deadpanned about the unavoidable situation she found herself in, shortly before the Ying-Yang Orb...

_SMACK_

...went right into her face.

 _I'm sorry, Miss Mima!_  That's what Marisa thought of at that exact moment...

* * *

Hell, yeah! It feels so good to get this story updated after such a while!

Anyways, I apologize for the lack of updates in the past three weeks. Got very busy in real life and could not spare any time on writing this chapter.

And so, with Marisa KO'ed in this chapter, we will move on to Mima in the next one, where we'll then wrap up the  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_  arc and continue with the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc. Can't wait to get started on Okazaki Yumemi~

Changes from canon:

Orreries Solar System - In  _SoEW_ , taking out the four multicolored orbs just makes Marisa vulnerable to your attacks again, but here the entire fight revolves around Reimu dealing with Orreries Solar System, with the fight immediately ending upon all four orbs getting destroyed. There's also some noticeable changes in the attacks Marisa used here.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	30. Who Needs a Family?

**Corridor of Reimaden**

"Hey, Marisa. You alright there?"

Reimu, having just knocked out Marisa by hitting her in the face with the Ying-Yang Orb, asked as she pokes the witch in the face with her gohei.

Marisa stirred. The first thing she did is to rub her face with her hand. "Geez, that hurts a frickin' lot..."

Reimu taps Marisa on her forehead. A soft but audible clunk can be heard. "You bet it would. That's what you get for being a bad girl."

The witch sat up. "So, now what? You're gonna drag me back to my old man?" She asked with dissatisfaction. Then she turned her head away from Reimu and pouted. "Fine, then. I'll just block out everything he has to nag me 'bout until his last days."

Now it is Reimu's turn to frown.

"Go on, Reimu. I'm waitin'..." Marisa dared.

Surprisingly, Reimu decided to put her gohei away, and extend an empty hand toward Marisa as if to help her get up from the ground. "So tell me, Marisa...why do you hate your father so much?"

Marisa did not take Reimu's extended hand. She continued to sit there with a pout on her face. "What do you even know 'bout hatin' your own parent?"

Reimu kept her hand extended. "Still much better than never knowing who your parents were..."

Marisa spit in disgust. "Well...for me, I'll pick bein' abandoned over livin' with mine!"

Reimu is shocked by the witch's response. "Surely, your father can't be that bad..."

"HE IS THAT BAD!" Marisa suddenly became outraged, and yelled at the top of her voice.

The outrage caused Reimu to reel back in shock.

"Maybe you lot see him as someone who says very little words...!" Marisa continued with her rant. "But what y'all haven't the slightest idea 'bout is that he absolutely hates magic, so much that he yelled at me for  _just bein' able to cast a tiny little spell_!" She paused to do a spiteful spit. "And so, three weeks ago, I finally had enough of him, and ran away into the woods, where I met Miss Mima...and the other girls who had a similar situation with their parents. Been learnin' magic ever since."

Reimu recovers from the slight shock. "You hate your father...because of that?"

"That's right. I wish he never met my mom." Marisa answers rudely.

Reimu sighed once, withdrawing her hand. "I wish I even remember what  _my parents_  looked like..."

Something in what the shrine maiden trainee just said drew Marisa's attention. She turned to face Reimu. "Remember...?"

Reimu sat down on the ground with her legs crossed. "All these time, whenever I walk past some children and their parents, I always envied them, not because they are such happy families, but because they even have families in the first place..." She said, with envy in her tone. "Marisa...you should be happy that you at least have a family. Because for all I know, I am the only girl in school who is an orphan..."

Marisa began to show regret. "I thought you'll be...with no one to nag you 'bout..."

Reimu sighs once. "What kind of children wants to grow up never knowing their parents?"

Marisa looked down, covering her face with the brim of her witch hat. "Maybe...I'm better off havin' a family, after all. A real family, not just someone close, like..."

" _ Exitium _ !"

Marisa is interrupted by a sudden voice that came out of nowhere.

Reimu heard the voice, and looks at where it came from.

"Look out!" Reimu cried out. She then runs ahead and tackled Marisa onto the ground right as a ball of darkness shot past them.

"Marisa G. Kirisame, I have to say that I am  _very_  disappointed with your performance, and choice..." Said a familiar voice in a creepy way.

Reimu got up and instantly recognize the owner of that voice. "Mima!"

There stood (or rather, hovered) Mima, with her crescent moon scepter pointed at where Reimu and Marisa was. "Oh, Reimu, how naïve of you to talk down my favorite pupil with something as silly as family values..."

"I'm so sorry, Miss Mima!" Marisa, lying on the ground, cried out apologetically.

Mima simply shook her head in response to the apology. "You tried your best, Marisa. But now, it is time for me to demonstrate what I can do..."

Reimu immediately responds by launching the Ying-Yang Orb at Mima. "And I don't intend to find out!"

Mima simply bats the Ying-Yang Orb away with a swing of her scepter. "You will have to do better than that, Reimu..." The evil spirit taunted, and then begins to move backwards.

"You come back here, Mima!" Reimu yelled as she went after Mima. Though the shrine maiden trainee stopped within the first two seconds. "And you stay here, Marisa!" After that, Reimu resumed her pursuit of Mima.

Marisa remained lying on the ground. "Worst. Day. Ever!"

...

**Reimaden**

For several minutes, Reimu chased after Mima relentlessly while firing danmaku at her nonstop.

All Mima did is dispelling Reimu's attacks while running away...just fast enough for the shrine maiden trainee to catch up.

And that's when Reimu noticed something strange about this...room...that Mima had led her into.

Realizing what Mima was planning all along, Reimu stopped everything she did and hovered in place. "Wh...what is this place?"

Mima also stopped running away and hovered in place, directly in the middle of a spell circle that stretched across a wide area of the ethereal floor. "I'm glad that you followed me here, and then asked." Mima said with a smirk. "Hakurei Reimu, welcome to my domain..."

"Your domain?" Reimu asked with suspicion.

"...which will also be where the Hakurei bloodline ends." Mima finishes her sentence, before beginning to charge up some kind of spell with her scepter.

* * *

Real sorry for being late with two updates in a row, I've been very busy in real life lately. In fact, I think I might be late for a third in a row as well.

You might be starting to get a bit tired of the fact that every chapter so far has been either pure talk or pure fight, with only one so far having a conversation taking place in the middle of a fight. Well, I too am getting a bit tired with that. So once I finish the  _SoEW_  arc, I'm going to drop this notion and go with a slightly different writing format, starting from the  _PoDD_  arc.

No changes from canon in this chapter. Oh right, speaking of which, I'm going to drop this one too. Felt a bit awkward pointing out the differences since I've already stated this story to be a *fan remake of the PC-98 games*, and remakes tend to be a bit different than the source material.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here..._


	31. Light Within Darkness

**Reimaden**

It came so quickly, Reimu barely managed to dodge it even with her quick reaction.

"Oh, you dodged it..." Mima acts surprised. "You are the first person to successfully dodge that spell..."

Reimu straightens herself, then reacts with just as much surprise to the evil spirit's statement. "You tested that spell on  _your own pupils_?!"

Mima crosses her arms. "Only the ones I'm disappointed with. Even then, it wasn't supposed to kill, so they're all still alive."

Upon hearing that, Reimu felt like planting her face on a table. "Remind me  _why_  I didn't seal you away the last time we met..."

"Because you're not a full-fledged shrine maiden. You said so yourself." Mima decides to be sarcastic. She then points her scepter at Reimu. "But enough talk. Let's settle some scores!"

Reimu, once again, narrowly avoids being hit by the same spell as it came very quickly. "Right. Since you have already explained your motives, there's no need to go over it again..." The shrine maiden trainee brandishes her gohei. "...And I am going to put you down this time!"

Mima smirked. "So be it..."

...

**Corridor of Reimaden**

"Gods-freakin'-dammit!"

Marisa, still lying on the very same spot, threw a tantrum.

"Three weeks! Three weeks I've been trainin' under Miss Mima! Mastered some of the best spells, and I still got freakin' beat! Everythin' is so freakin' wrong with me today! Freakin', freakin', freakin'...just how many times have I said that word within the same hour, anyway?!"

Whether unbeknownst to the apprentice witch or not, her fellow witches are watching the tantrum-throwing from the sidelines, and felt sorry for her.

Marisa's tantrum stopped moments later.

"I miss the happy days from before I started learning magic..."

Saying that triggered an idea within Marisa's mind.

"...The happy days from before..."

With the idea in mind, Marisa got up from the ground and patted the dust off her dress. Then...

"Alright, then. Which one of you have a flying broomstick that Reimu hasn't smashed up yet?"

...

**Reimaden**

The last time Reimu was able to defeat Mima, its because the latter was mentally unstable and thus didn't fully focus on the fight.

But this time, not only has the evil spirit become more powerful than she was a month ago, she is also thinking straight and paying full attention.

Mima fired off spells after spells so rapidly that Reimu is doing more dodging than firing danmaku. The few shots she trainee does manage to get off are easily neutralized by the evil spirit casting a spell that causes the danmaku to fly around her.

"You've improved much since our last encounter..." Mima told Reimu. "But so have I!"

The evil spirit proceeds to prove her statement by thrusting her scepter straight up and casting a spell in that direction. Following that, a massive shower of star-shaped danmaku then rained down upon Reimu. The danmaku shower isn't simple either, because the gaps between the star danmaku are just way too small for Reimu to squeeze through.

Seeing that it is impossible to dodge the danmaku shower, Reimu opted to use the Ying-Yang Orb, launching it toward the danmaku shower. The Ying-Yang Orb erased every star danmaku in its path, creating a safe zone that Reimu could stand still in without getting hit by a single star danmaku.

Mima became intrigued by the move Reimu just pulled. "An offensive skill used in a defensive way. I'm fascinated, little girl..."

Unexpectedly for the evil spirit, the Ying-Yang Orb did not return to Reimu via the same trajectory the shrine maiden trainee had sent it on earlier. Instead, it had went behind Mima and then bashed through her ghostly head like a battering ram through a human's, sending her falling face-first toward the ground (but not quite far enough for a face-plant).

Mima got up. This time, the smirk on her face has disappeared completely, having been replaced by disgust. "Oh, you are such a pragmatic fighter..."

"You might want to be careful not to get backstabbed." Reimu said to Mima in a daring manner.

Mima took a brief moment to do the "spit out loose tooth" motion (though being a ghost with no tooth to dislodge, she did it simply for appearance).

"Very well, then..."

Mima then very quickly fires off another spell, which Reimu dodges by quickly moving to the sides. The spell created an explosion as it hits the ethereal wall behind Reimu.

As Mima begins to fire off the same spell in rapid succession, Reimu responds by flying all over the place, making it harder for the evil spirit to hit her as she flanks her with danmaku after danmaku. This time, Mima is so fixated on using her attack spell that she couldn't switch to her defensive spells in time, which caused her to get hit by danmaku several times.

When one danmaku hits Mima in the face and disoriented her, Reimu seized it as an opportunity to fly up close to Mima and then hit the evil spirit on the head with her gohei.

The hit landed so hard that Mima's head tilted over at an angle that would've snapped a human's neck and killed them on the spot. But as she's a ghost, all it did was inconvenience her while she readjusted her head back to normal position.

"That didn't hurt, you know..." Mima nonchalantly remarked.

"I know." Reimu nonchalantly replies.

Mima points her scepter at Reimu, this time without casting any spell, just simply pointing at the shrine maiden trainee. "Looks like it is time for something different, then..."

Reimu got suspicious of Mima's sudden change in behavior. As a precaution, the shrine maiden trainee entered a defensive trance, holding her gohei out in front with both hands.

Her hunch was proven to be true. Mima suddenly charged toward Reimu, with her scepter pointed forward. And she is approaching  _very fast_.

Reimu managed to block Mima's scepter with her gohei. However, the evil spirit has far more strength than she appeared. Reimu is using every bit of her physical  _and_  spiritual strength to hold Mima back, and even that is barely enough as Mima slowly begins to overpower the shrine maiden trainee.

"Too much for you this time?" Mima delivered a taunt. "Because this is what the responsibilities of a Hakurei shrine maiden feels like."

Reimu tries her best to hold back, but she knows she might fail at any moment. "A responsibility that I am willing to take!" She talked back.

"Too bad..." Mima said. "Because you will be going down in history as the girl who gave her life taking a pointless responsibility..."

At that moment, the evil spirit's scepter began to produce tiny bits of electricity, indicating that another spell will be coming at Reimu's way at point-blank range.

Reimu gritted her teeth. If she doesn't do something, she will be blasted by whatever spell Mima intends to use at the next minute. But if she stops resisting Mima's high-speed tackle, she will be mowed down instantly. This is a tough situation for the shrine maiden trainee. If only a miracle would come to her rescue...

And then something suddenly shot past Reimu and slammed right into Mima's face, sending her flying backwards, at the same time causing her to lose grip of her scepter as it flies out of her hand.

"Huh?!" Reimu is confused as to what had just happened. Then she sees that it was a  _flying broomstick_  that just saved her and knocked Mima down. But there's nobody riding it, so where did it come from?

Reimu sees the flying broomstick heading back to where it came from, so she turned around...and finds Marisa landing onto the broom in mid-air after what looked like a somersault.

"SLICE!"

Marisa loudly announces as she casts some kind of low-level spell at Mima's scepter, which is then seemingly chopped into pieces by nothingness. The individual pieces of the scepter then clatters against the ethereal ground as they landed.

"Sorry I'm late, Reimu!" Marisa said loudly. "Had to go look for a new ride!"

Reimu shook her head...and smiled a bit. "You're still speaking as loudly as ever, Marisa. What made you change your mind?"

Marisa descended toward the ground, but didn't land. "I took some thinkin' to your whole talk 'bout family. Figured that you've got a point..."

Reimu scoffed. "Just that?"

Marisa was going to answer that, but stopped herself from doing so as she notices something. "Uh, can we talk 'bout this later? She's gettin' up, and looks really pissed..."

The witch is of course, referring to Mima, who is recovering from being hit in the face by Marisa's flying broomstick. "Marisa G. Kirisame, you lousy little backstabber..."

Marisa frowned. "Can you please drop the 'G' from my name?"

Reimu is confused by what she just heard. "What kind of name is 'Marisa  _G_  Kirisame supposed to be?"

"I'll answer that later." Marisa said. She then points toward Mima. "Look out! She's gettin' real serious!"

It appears that while Reimu and Marisa were distracted, Mima had grown a pair of large black wings, which came with her magic aura becoming a lot more powerful than she was moments ago. "Yes, Marisa. I'm just about to get serious..."

A green magic circle formed hovering above Mima's right hand as she raises it up. It was very obvious what she is about to do.

"Reimu, with me!" Marisa called out. "I know how to beat her!"

Reimu was a bit skeptic about that. "Are you really sure?"

Mima flinging a massive stream of danmaku at her direction convinced the shrine maiden trainee that she doesn't need the answer anymore. She flew out of the way, toward the same direction Marisa took.

"Now, give her all you've got!" Marisa said to Reimu as she begins firing danmaku at Mima.

Reimu did exactly that without further questioning.

Mima visibly flinches with each danmaku that hits her. Apparently, her transformation only boosted her offensive powers, not her defensive one. In retaliation, the evil spirit fires another stream of danmaku at Reimu and Marisa.

Reimu and Marisa dodges that stream by speeding off toward opposite directions.

"Mima! This is the responsibility I planned on taking!" Reimu declared as she launches the Ying-Yang Orb toward the evil spirit.

Mima attempts to shoot down the Ying-Yang Orb with her danmaku stream. But that was a pointless gesture as it simply shrugged off the shots before slamming into her. This has the effect of stunning her for a brief moment, enough for her to get done in.

"Miss Mima! Here's somethin' you didn't teach me, but I cooked up myself!" Marisa joins in by throwing a flask that is filled with some kind of unidentifiable liquid. "Here's my love for you!"

The flask flew toward Mima in an arch, and stopped short of the evil spirit...literally, as it hovered in the air right in front of her. Then it starts to emit a glow that gets brighter with each second that passes.

"Hey, Reimu, you might wanna look away from this one..." Marisa told Reimu.

"Why?" Reimu doesn't understand what the witch meant by that...

...And immediately finds out the hard way when the flask exploded in an eye-blinding flash that reduced the entire environment to pure whiteness...

* * *

I hate to end the chapter (or in this case, the  _SoEW_  arc) in an anti-climatic manner, but IRL matters in the past two weeks have caused me to delay this chapter for too long, and I wanted to finish it up ASAP. Well, at least I now have enough free time to make one update per week again.

And now, with Mima getting her ghostly butt kicked, I just need to finish up the next chapter and the  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_  arc will be concluded. Stand by for the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc!

Like I said in the previous chapter, I will no longer list out all the differences this story has with  _Touhou_  canon. It felt a bit awkward listing out all the stuffs that are practically common knowledge for you guys. If you really don't know what's different in this story than the source material, a quick trip to the  _Touhou_  wiki should clarify it for you.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	32. Story of Eastern Wonderland

**Hakurei Shrine**

It had been three days since Mima was defeated...

Reimu sat on the veranda of the shrine's main building, drinking tea and eating rice balls. It is a Sunday today, so there are no classes to attend. The shrine maiden trainee has also got herself a new hair ribbon, after the last one got completely annihilated by Rika's Five Magic Stones.

"What a nice day it is today..." Reimu told herself. "No fairies playing pranks anywhere. No girl with strange machines picking fights. No evil spirits to hunt down..."

She then turns toward a glass jar that is covered with lots of Ofuda, and has a flaming blue skull that is an evil spirit's general form sealed in it. The glass jar is sitting on the edge of the donation box.

"Right, Mima?" The shrine maiden trainee said to the evil spirit with a smug on her face.

Mima, sealed in her current form, made no response. If evil spirits in their skull form can still speak, then Mima has chosen to give Reimu the silent treatment.

"You deserved this, actually." Reimu told Mima as she takes a sip of her tea. "You should just sit in there and take it easy, because I won't be letting you go anytime soon." She taunted. She's clearly enjoying taunting the currently helpless evil spirit.

"Hi, Reimu!" Marisa's voice is suddenly heard calling out.

Reimu looked around, and became confused when she didn't see the witch anywhere on the Hakurei Shrine grounds. "Marisa, where are you?"

The shrine maiden trainee gets her answer in the form of a cork landing on her head.

Reimu rubbed her head, then looks above her to find Marisa leaning over the roof.

"Yo! Over 'ere!" Marisa called out again while waving at Reimu.

Reimu sighed, as she stood up from the veranda and then flies up toward the roof to meet Marisa face-to-face.

"What are you doing here, Marisa?" Reimu asked the witch.

"Just to tell ya somethin'..." Marisa answers while scratching her head. "I thought 'bout your whole speech 'bout family from back at Miss Mima's domain. Decided that I should pay my old man a visit, apologize to him, family stuffs..."

Reimu crossed her arms. "So, how did it go?"

Marisa scratched her head again before continuing. "Well...he apologized too...for yellin' at me."

Reimu tilted her head in surprise. "He did?"

Marisa takes off her witch hat, revealing her full head of red hair. "Apparently, somethin' made him felt responsible for my running away. He asked for me to forgive him, which I did. Then he said he'd let me study magic, under the condition that it doesn't happen near the house..."

Reimu tilts her head back to normal position. "And it is not going to happen in the Hakurei Shrine, either." She said.

"Damn..." Marisa said. "And I can't exactly do it at Kourin's place..."

"Then you just have to find an empty shack on the village's outskirts." Reimu gave a suggestion, before descending back onto the ground.

"What-freakin'-ever..." Marisa sulked before moving away from the edge of the roof, disappearing from Reimu's field of vision.

Reimu closes her eyes and sighed. "What is with her...?"

When the shrine maiden trainee opens her eyes again, she sees Konngara, having suddenly materialized from out of thin air, sitting in front of the donation box.

"You took your own words back, and sealed Mima away at the best of your abilities. That, I am impressed..." Konngara told Reimu.

Reimu shook her head in response. "But the seals only prevent her from breaking out herself. Anyone could simply rip out the seals with their bare hands, and then Mima will be free again."

"A temporary solution is better than none." Konngara said.

With no relevant response that she could think of, Reimu changes the topic. "How is Genji, anyway? Seems that Marisa did her spell a bit too much..." She asked.

"He will be all right. A mere human, whether with powers or not, cannot bring him more harm beyond pain." Konngara replies.

"Yet that girl, Rika, managed to knock him out cold with that machine of hers..." Reimu remarked.

Konngara either didn't hear that remark or didn't know how to respond to that. Either way, the Astral Knight said nothing else on the subject before she swiftly, and literally, disappeared into thin air.

With nothing else to talk about, Reimu decide to go pick up the broom that was lying in front of her, and start sweeping the shrine grounds.

Unfortunately, it wasn't very long before the peacefulness is disturbed again...

Rika just came back. This time, she is wearing a strange red hat with transparent veils hanging off of it. She is also wearing a purple shirt with a red bowtie, and a purple skirt with frills. Of particular note is that she came riding on top of a truly huge and metallic-looking Evil Eye.

"Hakurei Reimu! I challenge you to a duel!" The Anachronistic Engineer declared. "This time, it is personal!"

Reimu just stared at Rika and her Evil Eye-shaped construct. While the shrine maiden trainee does find the huge 'eye' of the construct unnerving, it didn't stop her from just launching the Ying-Yang Orb at it, completely destroying it instantly.

" _Nanodesu_ ~!" Rika cried out as she is sent flying off the huge Evil Eye-shaped construct before landing face-first on the solid stone of the shrine grounds. The Anachronistic Engineer falls limp after that.

"With such a big eyeball, you're just asking for it to be utterly destroyed in a one-sided battle..." Reimu quipped as she fetches the returning Ying-Yang Orb.

The shrine maiden trainee is suddenly interrupted mid-quip when something came from straight behind and flew past her.

Reimu blinked, wondering what that may be as she looks at it. Turns out that was another young girl in a witch outfit flying on a broomstick, possibly another one of Mima's pupils.

"Oh, just another one of Marisa's friends..." Reimu told herself, and was going to dismiss the extra witch's presence...only to do a double take and realize what she might be here for.

The shrine maiden trainee quickly turns around, and finds Marisa, along with three more witches in outfits of varying designs, doing something to the glass jar sealing Mima.

Those witches, including Marisa, stopped what they're doing when they noticed Reimu looking at them.

"Marisa? What are you...and your friends...?" Reimu asked with suspicion, as she gets her gohei ready.

"Heh heh...I was kinda thinkin'...maybe we can uh..." Marisa stammers as she tries to come up with an explanation. She then decided against that. "Oh, screw it! Hope you have an umbrella, Reimu!"

That said, the witch immediately raises her wand into the air. The act is very obviously her casting a spell...

...And that spell summoned a pillar of water directly above Reimu. The pillar of water is intense enough to stun Reimu and prevent her from doing anything. "Marisa! What is the meaning of this?!"

Marisa and her witch friends seize this opportunity to make their getaway from the Hakurei Shrine. All of Marisa's friends flew away on their flying broomsticks, save for one who is able to fly on her own power.

"Sorry, Reimu! I think I still need Miss Mima for the time bein'!" Marisa replies with a mischievous grin on her face. "But I can guarantee you that Miss Mima won't try to destroy humanity again!" Finishing her sentence, the witch hopped onto her flying broom and rejoins her witch friends, carrying with her the glass jar that is containing Mima.

Reimu attempts to get rid of the pillar of water by using several Ofuda at once (one at a time is useless as the water would soak through them and disable their powers). She succeeds, but by then, Marisa and her witch friends have already made quite a bit of distance, too far for Reimu to catch up with them.

"Marisa! Come back here! This isn't over yet, I tell you!"

* * *

And with that, we finally conclude the  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_  arc!

Next up, we're doing the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc! Hoo boy, I can't wait to get started on it already...

Oh, and too bad I had Reimu utterly curb-stomp Evil Eye Sigma, eh?

Marisa mentioning Kourin, aka Morichika Rinnosuke, as early as the  _SoEW_  arc... Yea, that's meant to be a [Mythology Gag](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MythologyGag) to  _Touhou_. I've also decided to show Marisa's father some respect, and made this version of him the kind of father who realizes how poorly he's treated his daughter, and asks for her forgiveness. Family matters, folks!

As for the witch friends Marisa had in this chapter... Well, they're going to appear in the future as extras, much like Nitori's Kappa Mob in  _Wild and Horned Hermit_.

*Looks at the starting date of the story* Whoa! I didn't realize its been over a year since I started writing  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_. Time flies by, eh?

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	33. A Fluffy Girl and Her Bad Kitten

**Hakurei Shrine**

"Ow!"

Marisa cried out when Reimu slapped her on the back of her head.

"What'cha do that for?" The witch complained while rubbing her head.

"The fact that  _you_...and  _your friends_ , actually decided to let  _Mima_  out of the jar I sealed her in!" Reimu follows up with an attempt to whack Marisa with her gohei, which the witch dodged easily.

"At least she lost interest in her 'kill all humans' plan..." Marisa argues, still having a smile on her face. "Been a week since I let 'er out, and she's been behaving herself ever since."

"Your guarantees are so unreliable..." Reimu countered. "Please remember  _why_  we both received Kamishirasawa- _sensei_ 's headbutt that time..."

While all of this is happening right in front of the shrine's main building, Marisa's witch friends sat on top of the roof, giggling about the whole conversation as they not-quite-eavesdropped on it.

"Yea, 'bout that...sorry I dragged you into that one..." Marisa said.

Reimu then glances at the witches sitting on the shrine roof. The witches immediately falls silent as they notices the shrine maiden trainee glancing at them.

"Anyway, I am glad that you reconciled with your father..." Reimu tells Marisa. "But...what about your friends here?"

"Their own reasons..." Marisa answers. "Both Miss Mima and I asked them out of curiosity. They ain't talkin'..." She added.

"I guess they weren't as lucky as you were..." Reimu remarks.

Before the conversation can continue, a white cat darted past Reimu and Marisa, and hopped onto the donation box.

"Socrates, bad kitty!" A girl cried out as she came running past Reimu and Marisa, toward the white cat. This girl has long blond hair and wears a red-and-white dress. She also has a red ribbon on her hair.

In the process of getting to her cat, the girl had accidentally knocked Reimu and Marisa down onto the ground.

"Ouch!" Marisa cries out in pain upon hitting the ground on her bottom. "Ya alright there?" She then asks Reimu.

"I'm fine..." Reimu answers, while wincing in slight pain. The shrine maiden trainee then notices something else. "Marisa, I think you dropped something just now..."

"I did?" Marisa wondered what Reimu had meant, until she notices a corked vial rolling past her feet. "Oh, that! Must've fell outta my hat! Thanks for remindin' me 'bout it, Rei..." She remarked as she picks it up...

...And immediately notices that a crack has formed at the bottom of the vial, causing whatever's inside the vial to start glowing as it undergoes some kind of violent reaction.

Marisa's witch friends, whom are watching from above the shrine roof, all uttered "Uh oh!" simultaneously before retreating from the edge of the roof.

Reimu knew she should do the same. The shrine maiden trainee quickly got up to her feet and turned around to start running.

By the time Marisa realizes what is about to happen, the violent reaction inside the vial has already reached its peak, as indicated by a very bright glow coming out of it.

"Aw, jeez!" Marisa cried out before the vial exploded right in her hand.

After the explosion, Marisa's witch friends went back to the edge of the roof to see the aftermath. Reimu turned back around to see the same thing.

Marisa is completely unscathed. All she got from taking the explosion point blank is just a cough. "Remind me to put some durability reinforcing spells on everythin' made of glass..." She lamented.

Though Reimu notices right away that the explosion still did something to the witch. "Uh...Marisa, notice anything strange with your hair?"

"My hair...?" Marisa wondered for a minute there. She then notices that not only has her hair suddenly grown long enough to cover her left eye, it has also become blond instead of red. "Aw, jeez!"

The girl who started it, meanwhile, is oblivious to what had happened, as she picks up her cat and put it on her shoulder. "Socrates, what is wrong with you?" She asked the cat worriedly.

Reimu decides to go confront the girl. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

It took a while before the girl responded by turning to face the shrine maiden trainee...absent-mindedly.

"Um...Were you talking to me?" The girl asked in confusion.

Reimu crossed her arms and shook her head. "Of course I am."

The girl blinks in confusion for a brief moment. "Oh, pardon me!"

**Hardworking Fluffy-headed Girl**

**Ellen "Fluffy-head" Aureus**

"My name's Ellen 'Fluffy-head' Aureus!" The girl happily introduces herself. "But you can call me Fluffy Ellen!"

Reimu frowned. "Eren...Fuwafuwa... What kind of silly name is that?" She wondered out loud.

"It was coined by my grandpa." Ellen cheerfully answers. "Or was it? The details are quite fuzzy. I  _cannae_  recall them..."

Just then, Ellen's cat suddenly decided to jump down her shoulder, and go lick Reimu's toes, much to the shrine maiden trainee's surprise and chagrin.

"Socrates, bad kitty!" Ellen exclaims as she kneels down to pick up the cat. "Don't be so impolite, even to strangers!" She shifts her attention back on Reimu. "Do pardon me. Socrates has never been so naughty before...I think."

Marisa's witch friends giggled at the amusing sight.

Reimu kneels down to wipe her toes (in disgust), then stands back up to look at Ellen. "You are so strange..."

Marisa suddenly appears next to Ellen. "Ellen, huh? You don't look like you're from 'round 'ere..."

Ellen scratched her head with one hand while holding Socrates with the other. "Am I?" She said with a confused expression.

Reimu and Marisa both went blank with the fluffy-headed girl's response.

"Ya don't remember much 'bout your own past, don'tcha?" Marisa wondered out loud.

Before anything else can be said, all three girls (and Marisa's witch friends) noticed a pillar of light shooting out into the sky from very far behind the Hakurei Shrine.

"What is that?" Marisa wonders about the light as she looked at it with awe.

"Oh! How beautiful it looked! Can we go there?" Ellen said, obviously absent-minded about what it might actually be. Socrates, meanwhile, meowed as though it feels bored.

Reimu looked at it silently for several seconds.

The shrine maiden trainee then turns toward Marisa and Ellen. "Whatever that is, it is my duty as future Hakurei shrine maiden to investigate it."

Ellen blinked twice. "Haku-what?"

Marisa turns toward Ellen with a blank expression. "Ya really don't know who Reimu is, don'tcha?"

Reimu brandishes her gohei, then points it at Marisa and Ellen. "You two stay here and don't make everything harder for me." That said, the shrine maiden trainee then takes off into the air.

"Hey, Reimu! What 'bout your turtle?" Marisa called out to Reimu with a question.

"Genji is resting right now. Besides, I can now fly on my own." Reimu answers before heading for the pillar of light, leaving Ellen and Marisa (and her witch friends) behind.

Though the shrine maiden trainee miscalculated her flight trajectory and flew face first into a tree.

"Pichun~!" Reimu exclaimed in pain, before removing herself from the tree and continuing on her way.

Marisa, Ellen and the witches stood where they are as they silently watched Reimu flying toward the pillar of light while leaving them behind.

"Alright, you lot. C'mon, we're leavin'..." Marisa told her witch friends as she hops onto her flying broomstick.

"Where are you going?" Ellen asks with an absent-minded look on her face.

"Gettin' prepped to see what that light is. I'm not gonna let Reimu steal all the thunder!" Marisa tells the fluffy-headed girl. "I also need a freakin' change of clothes! This dress doesn't match my currently blonde hair!"

After that, the witch took off into the air, and flew toward the opposite direction as Reimu. Her witch friends also took to the air and followed behind her.

Now Ellen is all by herself in the Hakurei Shrine grounds. Socrates meowed in boredom.

"Oh, Socrates. I wonder what can we do now?"

...

**?-?-?**

Unbeknownst to Reimu, Marisa and Ellen, they were being observed by someone.

Watching the three girls through a strange panel made of light, a woman with red hair tied into a waist-length braid, and (for the moment) wears a white shirt and red knee-length skirt.

**Scientist in Search of Magic**

**Professor Okazaki Yumemi**

"Well, looks like I've already found what I want." The woman said to herself. "The beam should intrigue them enough to make them come here. After that, I'll just put them all in a  _specially_  made trap, and bring them back home so I can show the academic thickheads how I, Professor Okazaki Yumemi, is right about the existence of magic and this Mysteryland!" She then laughs loudly like a maniac.

" _Then_ what?" A girl arrived and interrupted Yumemi's monologue. This girl has blonde hair tied into twintails, and wears a white shirt with shades of blue and a pair of white shorts. She also wears a white hat.

**Scientist's Assistant**

**Kitashirakawa Chiyuri**

"Then  _what_?" Yumemi repeats the girl's question. "Then I'll write a book about the existence of magic and how it works in its own way independent of the laws of physics!" She laughs maniacally again. "You know what I want, Chiyuri..."

Chiyuri giggles at Yumemi's ambitious outburst. "Becoming like Professor Stephen Hawking, minus the paralysis?" She asked in an amusing tone.

"Yeah, that too." Yumemi answers.

Chiyuri then points at the panel made of light. "So, just the three of them? The Shinto shrine maiden, the witch who had her short red hair accidentally turned to long blonde hair, and that girl with the white cat?"

Yumemi shook her head as she approaches the panel made of light. "Nope. Not just them." She then touches the panel once...

...And all of a sudden, it stopped showing images of Reimu, Marisa and Ellen. Instead, it is now showing three different individual, whom all appear to be looking at the same pillar of light seem by the previous three girls and are pondering about what to do. The first is a girl with light red hair in a purple floral-patterned kimono, the second is also a girl with short blonde hair wearing a wide-brimmed white hat, and the third is yet another girl with purple hair wearing a white ribbon.

"Them too~" Yumemi said with a smirk. She then extends her left hand out to her left. "Now, Chiyuri..."

Chiyuri knew what to do. She already has a water bottle (filled with something other than water) in her hand the moment Yumemi said that. "I knew you'd want to say that. Here's your strawberry milkshake."

Yumemi snatches the bottle from Chiyuri, pops the lid open and then takes a congratulatory sip from it. "A taste of success. Take that, scientists!"

Chiyuri lightly pokes Yumemi from behind in a joking manner. "Just remember to make sure that the data gathered doesn't look like something a college student from the 1990s could create with a 16-bit computer~"

That joke prompted Yumemi to hit Chiyuri with a left-handed jab, while still smiling. "Shut up! Who talks about 16-bit computers in this age of holographic interfaces~?!"

Chiyuri received the jab right on the side of her head. "I do...ouch..." She remarked afterwards.

* * *

And so begins the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc...

I'm already hyping about Reimu and Marisa's fight with Yumemi, as do the appearances of Kana Anaberal, Kotohime and Asakura Rikako.

Ah, Ellen "Fluffy-head" Aureus. The only character in the entire  _Touhou_  franchise who  _isn't_  created by ZUN. She's actually from the manga series [Hatarakimono](http://voile.gensokyo.org/res/52053.html) by Takemoto Izumi (last name first, as per my policy with Japanese names). I wanted to have Ellen reference the other cast members of  _Hatarakimono_ , but unfortunately the manga series was never translated, and so is only available in Japanese, which makes Ellen and Socrates the only  _Hatarakimono_  characters I can name. I'll have to ask somebody who can read Japanese, and see if they know the names of the  _Hatarakimono_  cast members.

You might not notice this in her lines because its difficult to emulate her accent in a strictly literature way, but I made this version of Ellen a Scottish girl. Why? I stumbled upon a Youtube comment on her theme, where the commentator says that the theme gave them vibes of the Scottish Highlands. The only indication of Ellen having a Scottish accent here is when she mentions that she " _cannae_  recall them" - " _cannae_ " being "cannot" pronounced in a Scottish accent.

In case you're wondering...Yumemi's mentioning of "Mysteryland" is a sort-of Mythology Gag to  _Touhou_  joke translation wiki "Mysteryland Mysteries", where  _everything_ in  _Touhou_  gets culturally translated into American stuffs ala (now bankrupt) 4Kids Entertainment's anime dubbing policy. For example, "Gensokyo" became "Mysteryland". Just look for "Mysteryland Mysteries" yourself on Google (or click [here](https://thpatch.net/wiki/Portal:En-4kids) if you're reading this on Archive of Our Own) and have a hearty LOL moment if you're interested.

Chiyuri's "something a college student from the 1990s could do with a 16-bit computer" line is a reference to ZUN, still in college back then, creating  _Highly Responsive to Prayers_  for the PC-98 in 1996 ( _HRtP_  is created in 1996, but only released in 1997 alongside  _SoEW_ ). Reimu mentioning "Kamishirasawa- _sensei_ 's headbutt" should need no explanation (Aside from her and Marisa being students at Keine's schoolhouse in this continuity).

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	34. Strange, Weird and Bizzare

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

Aside from a mob of fairies picking a fight on a whim (the fairies were easily dealt with), Reimu's trip to the pillar of light went relatively well and quiet.

The shrine maiden trainee touched down a short distance from what appeared to be an ancient-looking ruins, from which the pillar of light seems to originate. Nothing that looks like an entrance to the ruins could be seen from this direction.

What bothers Reimu is that the pillar of light doesn't seem to be doing anything other than just...existing, or drawing her attention, whichever the case may be. But what bothers the shrine maiden trainee even further is that one Ellen "Fluffy-head" Aureus has apparently beaten her to the punch, because the fluffy-headed girl is already there, staring absent-mindedly at the ruins, when Reimu arrived.

"Ellen, what are you doing here?" Reimu asked her with a frown.

Ellen apparently wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, since it took her several seconds to realize she was being spoken to, and turn toward Reimu. "Oh, pardon me! I didn't know someone was here! Um...what was your name again? Um...Raymoo?"

Reimu cringed at the misnaming, even while knowing it was an unintentional one. "Hakurei Reimu. But you can call me Reimu." She corrected.

"Oh, Reimu! I'll try to remember that!" Ellen responds cheerily. "Why are you here?" She asks with a smile.

Reimu sighed. Seems that this girl is, for a lack of a better term, empty-headed. "Same reason you are here: that." The shrine maiden trainee points at the pillar of light.

Ellen turns to face the ruins that is creating the pillar of light. "Oh, that!" The fluffy-headed girl notices something else. "And that?"

This time, it was Reimu who blinked in confusion as she looks at what Ellen was referring to: a mid-sized piece of rock that appears to be floating in midair at eye-level by itself. Rather amusingly, Ellen's cat laid on the rock while meowing in boredom.

It took Ellen a few seconds longer to react to what is happening. "Socrates, how are you able to fly?" She wondered out loud as she goes to pick up her cat.

Reimu both cringed and giggled at the same time in response to Ellen's absent-minded reaction. "I don't think the cat is doing it..."

Ellen tilted her head. "Then who did? I  _cannae_  make anything fly on their own..."

"I did..." Came a response from out of nowhere...literally.

Reimu tensed up and became alerted as she looks around for the source of the voice, with an Ofuda ready in hand.

Ellen also looked around, but she is more fascinated than surprised by the voice. "Oh my! Can you please show yourself? It was quite impolite of you to sneak up on us like that." Ellen called out.

"Oh. I am sorry." The voice said apologetically. "I will reveal myself now..."

After that exchange, a girl materialized from out of thin air in front of Reimu and Ellen. This girl has blonde hair, and wears a very frilly blue and white dress with a white apron. She also has a white wide-brimmed hat.

**Imaginary Spookiness**

**Kana Anaberal**

"Let me introduce myself..." The girl said in a polite tone. "I am Kana Anaberal. A poltergeist."

Ellen took a step forward and waved her hand cheerfully. "I'm Ellen 'Fluffy-head' Aureus! A human magician~! Nice to meet you, Kana~!"

Reimu looks at the fluffy-headed girl. "Can we really trust...her?" She then looks at Kana. "Anyways... I am Hakurei Reimu. A human shrine maiden in training..." She glanced at Kana, then back at Ellen. "Are you both  _gaijin_?"

Kana blinked. "What is a 'gaijin'?"

Ellen also blinked. "Is that something fluffy?"

Before Reimu can answer those, she was interrupted by something flying past her and the other two girls, which kicked up wind and dust in its wake.

That something is revealed to be no other than Marisa G Kirisame riding on her flying broomstick. The witch circles back and proceeds to make a dynamic descend toward Reimu and the others, kicking up more dust as she does so.

"'Sup, Reimu!" Marisa greeted as she hops off her broom and lands. She still has the magically-induced long blonde hair that concealed her left eye, but now her witch outfit looked a bit different: her hat now has a silver crescent moon adorning it, her skirt has been replaced by a dress that goes all the way past her knees and barely touching her feet, and her sleeves are now reaching her wrists.

Reimu couldn't help but force a smile on herself. "I see you have changed your outfit, Marisa..."

Ellen stared at Marisa for a few seconds. "Um...have we met?"

Marisa practically went head over heels upon hearing that. "Haven't we met at Reimu's shrine a short while ago?!"

Ellen blinked. "At where?"

Kana giggled at the amusing sight. Reimu as well, and is trying to cover her mouth with her hands.

Marisa felt like slamming her face against a wall. But as there is no wall for it to be possible, she elected to substitute with her flying broomstick instead. "Remind me why I'm 'ere again...?"

Before anyone can reply to Marisa, everyone find themselves assaulted by a brief but very loud bang, at the same time Marisa's witch hat was blown right off her hat.

"Eek!" Ellen covered her ears to shield herself from the loud bang.

Kana's response is to somehow pull out of midair an uprooted metallic sign (that is twice her height), wherein the signboard itself is a white text that reads "ACHTUNG" in the center of a red hexagon, which she held out in front of her like a huge club. If Kana is a human, she would be sweating cold sweat right now.

"Who is there?!" Reimu, with her gohei in hand, called out intensely.

Marisa grumbled as she goes to pick up her witch hat. She finds that the hat has several tiny holes on it. "I swear I'm gonna strangle whoever did this to my hat..." The witch grumbled as she puts the hat back on.

"I'm afraid it is against the law to strangle a law enforcer..." Said another girl who suddenly entered the scene from the adjacent woods. She has long red hair tied with a small red ribbon, and wears a purple kimono with floral patterns.

It should also be noted that she is pointing what looked like a long gun at Marisa. However, the long gun doesn't look like the muskets used by the village's hunter-gatherers, nor is it a flintlock used by the peacekeepers. Instead, it seems to have a lever in which the trigger guard is also the tip, and the girl ejects a spent bullet(?) by pulling said lever out and back into position.

"Who the heck are you?" Marisa asked rudely, completely ignoring the long gun that is pointed at her.

The girl keeps her long gun pointed at the witch as she slowly approaches.

**Law-enforcing Maniacal Princess**

**Kotohime**

"Police Constable Kotohime of the Gensokyo Police Force..." The girl introduces herself without lowering her long gun.

"Gensokyo Police Force? Never heard of it..." Reimu remarked.

"I  _cannae_  understand you." Ellen comments. Socrates meowed in ignorance of the turn of events.

"I didn't know there was a police force around here..." Kana wonders out loud.

Reimu shuts her eyes and crosses her arms. "First, a forgetful girl who doesn't look like a Yamato; second, a 'poltergeist' girl who also doesn't look Yamato; and now someone who claims to be a law enforcer but looks absolutely nothing like one..." She thought to herself.

...

**?-?-?**

"And that, is what I'd call a bunch of weirdness..." Chiyuri voices her comment on the strange bunch of girls that have gathered, as she and Yumemi observes them through the panel of light.

"Given that this is a magical land, I've already expecting its people to be...a bit not right in their heads." Yumemi explains. "Kind of like the denizens of Wonderland in  _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_."

The panel of light shows that Marisa defiantly approached Kotohime, despite the latter pointing a long gun at the former. The witch seems to brag to the self-proclaimed police constable about something, only for Kotohime to put the barrel of her long gun next to Marisa's left ear (not directly pointing at Marisa herself). The ensuing gunshot, at such close range, would be doing a big number on Marisa's left ear, as shown by the witch kneeling to the ground, left hand pressed against her left ear in pain. Reimu, Ellen and Kana hopped back in surprise.

"A medieval magical land like this, and in the hands of an aristocratic-looking girl from said medieval magical land, was the last place I'd expect to see the nearly 200 years old Winchester Lever-action Rifle that still works like it was new..." Yumemi comments on Kotohime's choice of weapon.

At that moment, the panel of light shows that the confrontation between Marisa and Kotohime (which Reimu is trying to stop and failing awkwardly) is interrupted by something, or rather, someone flying past the girls at an even higher speed than when Marisa first arrived. Landing in front of the group, the new arrival is revealed to be a girl who has a white ribbon in her purple hair, and wears a white coat with a yellow ribbon at the collar. She also appears to be wearing a pair of round glasses.

What is particularly notable about this girl is that she seems to be flying with assistance from a backpack that has what looked like firework rockets attached to it.

"A jetpack. Interesting..." Yumemi is intrigued by the purple haired girl. "First time I've ever seen a fully functional jetpack. Although its highly un-aerodynamic shape makes me rather suspicious about its design."

Chiyuri raised an eyebrow at the amount of people that the pillar of light has attracted. "So, should I log down everything we've seen so far?" The assistant asked Yumemi.

"Why do you need to ask? Of course you should, you idiot..." Yumemi tells Chiyuri in a commanding manner.

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

Yet another person has arrived at the site.

"Stop threatening the witch,  _Constable_  Kotohime." The purple-haired girl said, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the word "constable".

****The Magician Obsessed With Science** **

****Asakura Rikako** **

"Kirisame Marisa here is charged with providing assistance to an evil spirit." Kotohime tells the new arrival. "What do you understand about police work, Rikako?"

"Hey! My name's Marisa Kirisame, not the other way 'round!" Marisa complained without waiting for the new arrival to answer the self-proclaimed police constable. "Jeez, why does everyone keep getting my name wrong!"

Rikako shot Marisa a glare, which didn't faze the witch much, before turning back to Kotohime. "From what I understand, your method basically amounts to indirect police brutality. Besides, didn't the GPF put you off duty for the next month or so?"

In response, Kotohime lowered her long gun. "Okay, you got me there..." The self-proclaimed police constable said in embarrassment. "I did come here to investigate the pillar of light, but it is entirely on my own accord. What about you, Rikako?"

Rikako takes off her rocket-equipped backpack and sets it next to her feet on the ground. "To further my scientific researches with what I can find here..."

Marisa suddenly decides to interrupt the conversation. "Hold it right there, everyone!" She said loudly as she raises both of her arms up in the air. "This is all gettin'  _real_  confusin' now. Mind if we first explain to one 'nother why we're 'ere?"

Everyone looked at one another for several seconds before nodding in unison.

"Great! That'll be good!" Marisa said. "Now, let's start with Reimu. So, Reimu, why are you 'ere?"

Reimu clears her throat before beginning. "For those of you who don't know me, I am a Hakurei shrine maiden in trainee, and even as a trainee, it is my duty to investigate what this pillar of light is...

...

And so everyone took turns explaining to each other why they came to the pillar of light (and getting snarky responses from someone else).

Reimu came because it was her duty as future Hakurei shrine maiden to investigate what might be going on.

Marisa came because Mima wanted her to go see if there's anything worth bringing back from the site.

Ellen apparently doesn't even know what she is doing here. This, amusingly, caused everyone to face-fault all at once.

Kana's story was a bit more complex. She was a poltergeist spawned by a mentally unstable girl whose family moved to Gensokyo from a faraway land a long time ago. Kana used to haunt the girl, and followed her all the way to Gensokyo. But recently, the girl stopped being afraid of Kana. So the poltergeist came here to see if she could find a new place and/or person to haunt.

Kotohime came with the intention of cordoning off the entire site while she performs a "perimeter search". But upon seeing that Reimu and Ellen have gotten here first, she had to come up with a last minute change of plans, and arresting Marisa was apparently not one of those plans (at least not primary). And then Rikako's arrival made her gave up on those plans entirely.

Rikako is more interested in the scientific value the pillar of light holds, and isn't interested in magic at all. Kotohime then reveals that Rikako is actually a very powerful magician...who for some reason began to shun magic and has gained interest in science.

"And so, one could say that every single one of us here are strange in one way or another..." Reimu shrugs at the end of the explaining session.

"So now's the real dilemma: do we work  _with_  or  _against_  each other 'ere?" Marisa raises another question.

Before anyone present could give an answer, something was launched out of whatever is creating the pillar of light from within the Mysterious Ruins.

The object landed on the ground with a soft thud, and then slowly rolled toward the group.

Kotohime was the first to pick up the object. It is a small hollow metal tube with a piece of paper tied to one end of it with strings. Everyone gathered around the self-proclaimed police constable to see the object.

 _"_ _値するだけで入力することができます_ _"_  is what's written on the piece of paper.

"I  _cannae_  read this..." Ellen expressed. Apparently the same translation spell that solved the problem of language barriers only worked on  _spoken_  language, not  _written_  language.

"Me too..." Kana said.

"Me three..." Marisa said in a complaining tone.

Reimu, Kotohime and Rikako each glared at Marisa, Ellen and Kana.

"You three live in Gensokyo, yet  _can't_  read in our native language?" Reimu raised an eyebrow as she wonders out loud. "Okay, Ellen and Kana at least could justify their not understanding the language by being born outside Gensokyo. But Marisa..."

"Hey!" Marisa sulked in response to Reimu's statement.

Kotohime ignored the slight commotion as she looks at the piece of paper tied to the metal tube. "'Only the worthy may enter'" She read out the message.

Everyone fell silent as they heard that.

"That's what it says here." Kotohime explains to everyone.

"Worthy, as in..." Reimu said.

The silence is broken when a massive swarm of fairies suddenly appeared out of nowhere and fired a shower of danmaku at the girls. None of the danmaku hits anyone of the girls, and all the show of force did was drawing the girls attention to the fairies.

Everyone turned toward the swarm of fairies and found that the swarm is  _really massive_ , so much that its like Gensokyo's entire fairy population are all drawn toward the same pillar of light the girls are attracted to.

"I knew the fairies would've noticed the light as well..." Kotohime lamented as she raises her long gun.

Marisa breaks out her magic wand and prepares herself. "Holy expletive! That's a lotta fairies!" The witch exclaimed.

The fairies all uttered some kind of battle cry before charging toward the girls.

"I have an idea!" Reimu suddenly announces. "Why don't we make it a competition to see who can shoot down the most fairies? The one with the highest score will be the 'worthy' one!"

This time, everyone glanced at the shrine maiden trainee, except Marisa who glared instead.

"Ya sure that's a good idea?" Marisa asked. "'Cause my left ear is still ringing from Crazy Police Girl's shot..." She then glares at Kotohime.

Someone answered the witch, but it wasn't Reimu.

"Why not?" It was Kotohime who gave the answer. The self-proclaimed police constable glares back at Marisa.

"Seems good." Kana voices her opinion.

"Sounds fluffy to me~" Ellen cheerily said.

"I have something new to test out, anyway..." Rikako said as she puts her rocket-equipped backpack back on.

Marisa looked back and forth between the others, then at the approaching swarm of fairies. With a smirk, the witch hopped onto her broom, with her magic wand to bear.

"Alright, then! I, Marisa Kirisame, will show y'all morons how this is done!" Marisa proceeds to loudly declare before she takes off into the air, leaving everyone behind on the ground.

"Marisa! Don't give yourself an unfair head-start!" Reimu calls out as she takes to the air and follows the witch.

* * *

So, at first glance, the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc won't be the same deal as the source material, what's with the girls trying to win access to the Mysterious Ruins (aka Yumemi's Hyperspace Probability Vessel) via number of fairies KO'd, right?

Wrong. They will be forced to do a tiebreaker match after that. The tiebreaker match being them fighting each other, though  _directly_  as opposed to surviving an onslaught of attacks ala the original game. They will be fighting each other in much the same way boss battles are fought in the danmaku games.

Yes, I made Kana Anaberal a German here, as you can see with her holding a sign that says "ACHTUNG", which is German for "attention". The "faraway land" in which the mentally unstable girl that created her came from is obviously Europe, specifically Germany.

Now, for Kotohime. Yes, I made her an actual cop in here, albeit a currently off-duty one. And why a Winchester Lever-action Rifle, you ask? Well, a cop without a gun of any sort seems kind of odd, even for Gensokyo where odd is the norm. So I looked around for any guns that existed at around the 1800s. Aside from the Murata rifles and Colt Model 1845 (which actually exists in Japan during 1880s when Gensokyo is first sealed off from the Outside World), the Winchester Lever-action Rifle is the only one that would look cool in Kotohime's hands while still being practical and era-appropriate.

Rikako should go without explanation. She isn't much different than her canon self, other than her being sorta-close friends with Kotohime.

Mima...will be sitting out of the  _PoDD_  arc, and won't be joining the action alongside everyone else. Read on to find out why I have excluded her here.

Also something that I forgot to address in the previous chapter. You would be asking why I keep saying "panel of light" when Yumemi has already directly said "holographic computer". But remember: this story is told with a tech-blind medieval girl (Reimu) in mind, and what does a holographic interface look like to said tech-blind medieval girl? A panel of light, that is.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	35. Point Not Taken

**?-?-?**

"Chiyuri! Are you getting all these?" Yumemi said excitedly as she watches through several panels of light showing how Reimu, Marisa, Ellen, Kana, Kotohime and Rikako are taking down the massive swarm of fairies, each girl using her own set of skills.

"All of them! Getting lots of data from this alone!" Chiyuri answers while busy moving back and forth from one panel of light to another. "I hope our computers have enough memory capacity to record all these..." The assistant shrugged as she remembers something.

Yumemi's response is to slap Chiyuri on the back of her head. "I designed each of these computers with ten thousand petabytes of memory! They can record everything I need!"

Chiyuri rubbed the back of her head. "I was just saying..."

Yumemi continues her observing of the girls fighting the swarm of fairies. "When I present all these to the academy, the first thing I'll say in my presentation is going to be 'I dare science to explain all of these!'" She told herself.

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

Even in such a massive swarm, Gensokyo's entire fairy population (and the almost equally massive amount of Kedama they brought along) are severely outmatched by the girls that came to the pillar of light.

Reimu threw out Ofuda that each followed a fairy at random and then explodes, knocking out several in one go. The shrine maiden trainee also used the Ying-Yang Orb to plow through even more fairies in succession.

Marisa started out with the Orreries Solar System spell. The orbiting multicolored orbs turned out to be surprisingly effective at taking out a huge crowd with their firing multitudes of danmaku and lasers independently of one another, while the barrier the spell throws up around Marisa protects her from incoming fire. Although the fairies' combined danmaku barrage eventually wore down all four multicolored orbs, which in turn dispelled the witch's barrier, forcing her to resort to casting the less flashy but more efficient attack spells.

Ellen's method of taking down the fairies is to repeatedly cast one spell over and over again. All this spell did is to put the fairies to sleep, but nevertheless allowed the fluffy-headed girl to quickly incapacitate a lot of fairies. The amusing part is that Ellen's hair gets messier each time she casts the spell, a drawback she either didn't notice or have already gotten used to.

Kana's method is rather strange: she appears to be grabbing and throwing the fairies toward one another...without physically touching them. She also sometimes swing her uprooted metallic sign like a club, bashing through any fairies and thrown Kedama that do manage to get very close to her.

Kotohime is the simplest with her method. Aside from firing her long gun with an unusually good accuracy (while flying, no less) that took down at least one fairy for each shot fired, the self-proclaimed police constable apparently brought several dozen sticks of dynamite with her, which she uses to blow up a large number of fairies. How she lights the fuse of the dynamites in the blink of an eye is anyone's guess (possibly magic).

Rikako is the odd one out with her method. She used  _no magic_  whatsoever during the entire course of the fairy hunt, instead opting to fly around with the rocket-equipped backpack, while shooting at fairies with what appeared to be a crossbow made out of scraps that fired darts very rapidly, with almost no delay between shots. Every fairies would fall out of the air within three seconds of being hit by one of those darts.

Because the fairy swarm is so huge, the fairy hunt lasted over an hour, with the girls racking up huge scores for their effort. The fairy swarm is still huge, though by that point, they were already having second thoughts about picking fights with a shrine maiden trainee, two witches, a poltergeist, a (self-proclaimed) police constable, and a magician-turned-scientist all at once.

"Let's get out of here!" A fairy called out to her fellow fairies as all of them (at least, the ones that haven't been knocked out yet) began to retreat from the vicinity of the Mysterious Ruins. What makes it ironic (for Reimu, at least) is that the aforementioned fairy is a Doom Fairy, the same type that was empowered by Mima's dark sorcery from the Fairy Forest over a month ago. Even more ironic is that she was just one of several Doom Fairies mixed amongst the fairy swarm, and they too were retreating.

The slowest of the retreating fairies is promptly shot in the back by Marisa.

"Aaaand 'nother point goes to the witch with the stars~" Marisa said, twirling her magic wand in her right hand.

Kotohime flew close to Marisa and then slams the stock of her long gun at the witch's face, causing her to almost fall off her flying broomstick.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Marisa exclaimed as she keeps herself from falling off.

Kotohime rests the barrel of her long gun over her right shoulder. "Fairies can't die, but that doesn't mean its morally correct to shoot them when they're already retreating!" The self-proclaimed police constable said.

Ellen tilted her head in confusion. "I wonder what is she talking about?"

Reimu shrugs. "About not attacking fairies when they are running away...?"

Rikako appears next to Reimu suddenly, her rocket-equipped backpack surprisingly silent. "Something like that..."

Reimu (and everyone else) continued watching Marisa and Kotohime arguing with each other. Then the shrine maiden trainee suddenly remembers something.

"Hey, you! Your name's Asakura Rikako, right?" Reimu directed at the magician-turned scientist. "Kotohime - whatever she really is - mentioned that you're a magician...who ran to the heretic's way. Why?"

Rikako glared at Reimu. "Religious people like you won't understand it..."

Reimu crosses her arms. "Try me." She dared.

Rikako didn't comply. "I can't. You don't look smart enough..."

Reimu cocked her eyebrows on hearing that. "Me? Not smart enough?! I'll show you!" She said, steaming with anger as she prepares several Ofuda in her hands.

Rikako acted like she knew this would happen. She nonchalantly raised her scrap crossbow and pointed it at Reimu.

Although the two didn't get to start fighting each other due to a sudden outburst by Ellen.

"Hey! We  _cannae_  determine who won if we don't tally the scores!" The fluffy-headed girl said.

That statement caused everyone to fall silent on the spot. Kana, who hasn't spoken very much, raised her eyebrows upon remembering it.

"Holy expletive! I totally forgot 'bout that!" Marisa exclaimed. "Exactly how many fairies did I knock out?!" The witch became frantic over the matter, and began flying around in circles.

Kotohime shook her head and face-palmed. "I can't believe a police constable like me actually forgot something so crucial..." She uttered to herself.

Kana slammed the sign part of her uprooted road sign against her face in embarrassment. "Verdammt..." [Damn...]

Reimu covered her face with her hands. "Some shrine maiden I am going to become..."

Rikako took something out of her coat pocket, and began tapping on the myriad of buttons on it. Whatever the magician-turned scientist is trying to achieve, she seem stumped just a minute into doing it, as indicated by her confused look and scratching her head.

Ellen looked at everyone else, and wondered, "Did I say something wrong?" Meanwhile, Socrates meowed lazily while resting on its master's shoulder.

That's when Marisa stopped spinning in circles. "Ah, jeez! Guessin' its time for Plan B!"

Everyone placed their attention on the witch.

"What's that?" Reimu asked. Though the shrine maiden trainee doesn't seem to be confused about Marisa's idea, but rather the phrase itself for it is technically from a different language.

Crossing her arms while seated on her flying broomstick, Marisa let out a proud laugh. "Well, then! Since none of us knew how much of them fairies we all blasted down, I say we consider it a tie! An', we're gonna hold a tiebreaker, 'cause there can be only one winner!"

Kotohime cocked her eyebrows. "And your idea of a tiebreaker is?"

Reimu crossed her arms, as though preparing for something. "Don't suggest what you're thinking, Marisa..."

Marisa responds by pointing her finger straight ahead, not at anyone in particular. "An ol' fashioned duel of raw power!"

Reimu immediately frowned upon hearing that. "I knew it..." She lamented.

* * *

Well, I hate to make this chapter look incomplete. But since my college classes timetable doesn't give me enough free time during the weekdays, I was unable to meet my self-imposed one week deadline even without an exam incoming, and ended up delaying this chapter by a few days longer than a week. I had to get this posted ASAP, so I rushed everything after describing how the girls took down the fairy swarm.

Case you're wondering, that something Rikako took out of her coat pocket, and "began tapping on the myriad of buttons on it" is a pocket calculator, described so because this story is told with the tech-blind Reimu in mind.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	36. Fun Before Fight

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

Since they've spent the past hour flying around and taking out fairies with various attacks, the girls have decided to take a short break on the ground as they listen to Marisa's suggestion.

"Say that again?" Kotohime and Rikako both asked in unison as they don't quite get what exactly Marisa meant with her suggestion.

"A fight of raw power! That's the way I'm preferrin'!" Marisa stated with a proud look on her face. "See who's better at kickin' the other's butts! The winner gets to go inside...whatever this freakin' ruin is! You should be gettin' my point already!"

Reimu sighs. "Marisa...is this what you and your friends learn from Mima?" She asked Marisa.

Kotohime was reminded of something when she hears the shrine maiden trainee's question. "Oh, by the way,  _Marisa Kirisame_..." She directed her sentence at Marisa, saying the witch's name in a sarcastic tone. "About how you and your friends released the evil spirit, Mima from being sealed~" The self-proclaimed police constable resumed in a creepy tone, while simultaneously showing a creepy smirk and pointing her long gun at Marisa's face point-blank.

That was enough to intimidate Marisa, who swallowed hard and took a step back. "I...it was my ide...idea! I swear! I'm takin' all the res...responsibility!" The witch stammered with her response due to the intimidation.

This scene has made Kana giggle before she turns toward Rikako. "Is she really a police constable?" She asked in amusement.

"Don't ask..." Rikako answers the poltergeist in a deadpan manner.

That was when Kotohime puts her gun down. "Just kidding~" She told Marisa with a joking tone, her mouth showing a grin. "I can't arrest you. Not at the moment, at least~"

Marisa sighed in relief upon hearing that. "Whew. Ya sure got me there..." The witch then takes off her hat. "Now, let's get to the freakin' point already..."

...

**?-?-?**

"So, what have we got here?" Chiyuri asked Yumemi, who is currently reviewing through several panels of light the scenes from the fairy hunting competition that was already over.

Yumemi took a sip from her bottled strawberry milkshake before gleefully telling her assistant, "Myriads of colorful magic and supernatural abilities. Just what I'm looking for~"

The professor then sets the bottled strawberry milkshake down on the table in front of her.

"But its only 40% of the amount I need!" Yumemi suddenly bursts out as she turns around to face Chiyuri. "77 Terabytes of information I've acquired! But there's not enough variety to prove my point to the academic thickheads!"

Chiyuri jumped back in reaction to the professor's sudden outburst. "C...calm down! we don't even have a deadline, so we still have plenty of time to keep observing!"

Yumemi snatches up the bottled strawberry milkshake and finishes the rest of it in one gulp. "Right, right. No deadlines to chase, plenty of time to record things and write a report about them..."

Chiyuri then directs Yumemi at a panel of light that is showing what is currently happening outside the Mysterious Ruins. "And looks like they're not done yet..."

Said panel of light showed Marisa holding her witch hat upside down with her left hand, while she casts a spell onto it with the wand in her right hand. Following that, the witch puts her wand away (into her sleeves), and then tells the other girls something. Exactly what is being said by Marisa can't be heard because the panel of light produced no sounds.

"Why can't we hear what she is saying? Shouldn't the Everywhere Camera be able to transmit sounds as well?" Yumemi pointed out about the lack of sounds from the image.

"The magic in this land is messing with that part of the Everywhere Camera." Chiyuri explains awkwardly.

Yumemi shoved the assistant aside as she walks toward one of that panel of light. "Don't you know how to fix, or at least troubleshoot glitches?" The professor starts doing something complex on the panel (mostly tapping all over it). Whatever she might be doing, Yumemi is done within eight seconds. "There."

That's when the panel of light showing Reimu, Marisa and the others stopped being silent, sounding out what they are saying loud and clearly.

"Now, y'all! Put your hands inside my hat! See whether you picked a yellow star or a red one!" Marisa can be heard telling the other girls. "There are only two red stars, and whoever gets 'em will be fightin' each other first!"

Yumemi can't help but snicker at what she heard. "Oh, this. Pretty sure the witch had it rigged so..."

Before Yumemi can finish her statement, the girls have already went and rummaged through Marisa's hat (their hands extended deeper into the hat than it is tall), and each of them pulled out a star from it.

"Nope..." Chiyuri comments as she notices something in the scene. "Definitely not rigged, if the witch's frown is any indication..."

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

The two girls to get red stars from rummaging through Marisa's hat are Reimu and Ellen. Everyone else got yellow stars, including Marisa herself.

"Dammit!" Marisa expressed disappointment. "And I though I could start all this havin' 'nother showdown with Reimu..."

Reimu taps Marisa in the forehead with her gohei. "If you are thinking of testing a new spell on me, I have to say no."

The shrine maiden trainee's statement led to Rikako glaring at Marisa. "You used her as a  _test subject_?" The magician-turned-scientist asks with surprise.

"Oh, how rude!" Ellen exclaims. "You  _cannae_  just use someone to test your spells without permission!"

Marisa puts her hat back on. "Oh, never mind. We're gonna be fightin' one 'nother, anyway..."

With that, everyone turned their attention on the only two red stars, one in Reimu's hand, the other in Ellen's.

"Oh, Reimu! You have a red star!" Ellen cheerfully points out, clearly forgotten what the red stars mean. "And so do I!" The fluffy-headed girl added upon seeing hers.

Reimu looks at the red star she is holding, then at Ellen's, and then at the yellow stars everyone else are holding...

The shrine maiden trainee procrastinated for a short while before turning toward Marisa. "Mind explaining the rules, if there is any?" She asked the witch.

"And don't even think about changing the rules mid-duel~" Kotohime, displaying a creepy smile on her face, warned Marisa.

Marisa notices the self-proclaimed police constable's warning, but isn't intimidated this time. "There's only one rule in this match: beat your opponent into submission!"

Everyone then notices Ellen being all confused about Marisa's explanation. "Isn't it bad to beat somebody else, no matter how bad they are?"

The fluffy-headed girl's absent-minded statement made everyone giggle, even Rikako who has been very deadpan so far.

"Or, ya can just put 'em out without hurtin' them in whatever way you know..." Marisa clarifies, while pulling aside the hair covering her left eye to show that she is winking.

That's when Reimu stopped giggling.  _She's going to put me to sleep with that spell of hers..._  The shrine maiden trainee thought.

* * *

Once again, my class timetable doesn't give me enough time to perform updates to this story, causing delays in the release of yet another chapter. This is going to be the case for the rest of this semester, which I believe lasts until around August (just in time for the release of the full version of  _Hidden Star in Four Seasons_  too), so please bear with me and my lack of free time.

Speaking of  _HSiFS_ , the newest character revealed in it by ZUN (a butterfly fairy/Youkai?) received a fanart just  _15 minutes_ after she was revealed, which was just a few hours ago as of the uploading of this chapter in Fanfiction Dot Net (5th of May, 2017). Them Day Zero Fanarts sure come fast... Also, seems that the game's demo will be released two days later, alongside the demo of  _Antinomy of Common Flowers_. Now I wonder how I can adapt  _AoCF_  and  _HSiFS_  to fit in the world of  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_...? Hype intensifies...

As for the Everywhere Camera Yumemi mentioned...you know those magic crystal balls that lets their user see things in a very distant or well hidden location? Well, the Everywhere Camera used by Yumemi is essentially a technological version of those magic crystal balls. How do they work? Answer: "some kind of advanced quantum physics" like all sci-fi writers would say...

The next chapter will see the fights beginning for real. For the meantime, you just have to bear with my busy schedules...

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	37. Random Slapstick

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

"So, this is just a duel of strength?" Reimu, hovering in midair as she gets prepared for the duel, asked Marisa for clarification.

" _Magic_  strength." Marisa, hovering next to Reimu while sitting on her flying broomstick, clarified. "Ya can actually punch an' kick your opponent if you need to. But the whole point of the duel is to see who's gonna kick who's butt! With magic~!"

The witch then flies toward Ellen, who's hovering at a distance directly opposite of Reimu's position.

"Any questions you wanna ask?" Marisa asked Ellen.

Ellen absent-mindedly look around the surroundings before turning back toward Marisa. "Uh...what am I supposed to do with Reimoe again?"

"It's Reimu..." Marisa corrects the fluffy-headed girl. "Ya just put her down in whatever way you can think of.  _Without_  killing her, of course~" The witch humorously stressed the last part. "Put Reimu to sleep...if you can. So to speak..." Marisa added, remembering how absent-minded Ellen can be.

"Does Remiu want to be put to sleep?" Ellen asked while blinking as she tried to understand what was told to her.

Marisa face-palmed. "Geez, you're really literally empty-headed..." The witch then points at Socrates, who is still lying on Ellen's left shoulder. "And put the lil' fellow down. Ya don't want him to get hurt, do ya?"

It took the fluffy-headed girl several seconds to (not quite) get what Marisa was talking about. "Oh, right!" Ellen then passes her cat to the witch. "Please take good care of Socrates. He likes his milk warm~"

Reimu heard that, and knew what Ellen had (mistakenly) thought of. "I...don't think we will be occupied for long..."

...

Down on ground level, Kotohime nudged Rikako with her elbow. "Has she never fought anyone before?" The self-proclaimed police constable asked Rikako.

"Other than those fairies just now, I haven't the slightest idea." The magician-turned-scientist answers, while simultaneously smiling about how amusing the exchange is.

"Even the girl who created me isn't this...strange..." Kana comments.

...

Marisa retrieve Socrates from Ellen's shoulder. The cat meowed in dissatisfaction in the process.

"Ya can have him back after this is over. Just sayin' to ya..." Marisa said to Ellen.

Ellen tilts her head slightly and smiled. "Now be a good kitty, Socrates~"

...

**?-?-?**

Still unbeknownst to the girls at the Mysterious Ruins, two people were spectating the fight they are about to have.

"Now this is getting interesting." Chiyuri comments as she looks at a panel of light that showed the girls. "Shame that we've got no popcorn."

"Then how about some sandwiches?" Yumemi suggested, whilst keeping her eyes fixated on the panel of light. "I prefer mine with some strawberry jam." The professor added.

"Its  _always_  strawberries with you, professor..." Chiyuri remarked.

Yumemi's response to that remark is to apply a karate chop on her assistant's head. "What do you know about strawberries, anyway?!"

Chiyuri rubbed her head. "That you seem to be go cold turkey if without strawberries for a long period of..."

Yumemi turned toward Chiyuri and showed her a death glare with a creepy smile.

"I...I'll be in the kitchen if you need me..." Crept out by Yumemi's response to her earlier statement, Chiyuri said before walking out of the room, shivering the whole time.

After that brief moment, Yumemi turns her attention back on the panel of light, which showed Marisa retreating back toward the ground while carrying Socrates.

"This reminds me..." The professor told herself while looking at the panel of light. "It has been a long time since I last got into a fight..."

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

"Are ya ready?" Marisa asked both Reimu and Ellen. Though since there is quite a distance between the ground where Marisa (along with Kana, Kotohime and Rikako) stood, and the altitude Reimu and Ellen are at, the witch technically shouted at the latter two.

"What?!" Reimu, who couldn't hear Marisa from that high up, said.

"I said: Are ya ready?" Marisa repeated, shouting louder.

"I can't hear you!" Reimu responded, still unable to hear the witch.

"Darnit..." Marisa cursed under her breath as she face-palms.

Rikako took something cone-shaped out of her rocket-equipped backpack, then held the smaller end of the cone over her mouth, and aimed the larger end at Reimu. "The witch is asking if you are ready." The magician-turned-scientist repeats Marisa's question for Reimu, her voice coming out much louder than Marisa's shouting. Although the strange brief but high-pitched sound that the device emitted the moment the sentence began caused Marisa and Kotohime to cover their ears, and also bothered Socrates enough to make him do the same.

Reimu heard the sentence (the high-pitched sound preceding the sentence didn't bother her so much from that distance) this time. "Well, yes, I am ready." The shrine maiden trainee answers back loudly.

Marisa puts her hands down. "What the heck izzat?! Its so freakin' loud!"

Rikako glanced at Marisa. Finding the witch's outburst amusing, she said, "Its a megaphone. Makes one's voice sound much louder."

"Mega-wha...? Marisa said as she doesn't quite understand the phrase. She then snatches Rikako's device from her anyway. "I'm gonna be borrowin' this 'til-"

Kotohime immediately points her long gun at Marisa's face. "Until you die?" She asked in an interrogative manner.

"Only if you're an ageless person!" Marisa explains as she pushes the muzzle of the long gun away from her face. "But since ya ain't one, I'll be givin' it back to ya within the month!" She then takes her hat off, and stuff the megaphone into it, somehow - the megaphone is actually bigger than the witch hat - and then puts the hat back on her head.

Rikako notes where Marisa had put the megaphone into. "Storage hammerspace? It has been quite a while since I used one myself..."

...

Up at where Reimu and Ellen are...

"What are we waiting for?" Ellen asked Reimu.

Reimu looked around the surroundings, then back at the fluffy-headed girl. "I don't know. Do you?"

Ellen puts a hand to her chin and tilts her head slightly. "Do I?" She asked herself.

Reimu sighed. The shrine maiden trainee holds her gohei out along with some Ofuda. "I sure hope you do, because this will hurt either a little bit or a lot for either one or both of us."

Ellen blinked twice. "It will?" She asks absent-mindedly.

But before the fluffy-headed girl can start thinking about it, Reimu has already begun attacking by throwing several Ofuda at her...

* * *

Okay, I lied for a bit in the previous chapter's Afterword. While I did say that the fighting will begin in this chapter, it ended up beginning in the  _end_  of this chapter when you would've expected it to be somewhere in the middle.

Anyways, I'm sorry for delaying this chapter for three weeks. I got a really difficult college assignment to do, and had to allocate practically all my free time into finishing said assignment so I can submit it on time and not fail the subject. Unfortunately, I expect there to be more just-as-difficult assignments in the future, so any hiatuses that occur again are not by choice.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	38. Fight, Flight...Fluffy?

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

One spin here. Another here. And another here. And another. And a roll.

At first glance, one would've assumed Ellen "Fluffy-head" Aureus is performing dance moves several feet in the air using her magical flying powers. She even winked after the roll like an actual performer ending her performance.

Except for the fact that the "dance" helped the fluffy-headed girl avoid being hit by all the danmaku, Ofuda and Ying-Yang Orb that Reimu had launched at her.

"You're good..." Reimu comments, a bit disappointed about being unable to land a hit on Ellen. "Even though I doubt you are aware of being under attack..."

"Oh? Has our fight just started?" Ellen asks absent-mindedly as she continues skipping gracefully, oblivious to the danmaku bursts that Reimu just fired at her which she dodged without even noticing.

"Yes." Reimu answered awkwardly. The shrine maiden trainee have no idea whether to laugh about Ellen not knowing the fight has already started, or be angry about the fluffy-headed girl not paying any attention to her.

Ellen took a brief moment to process Reimu's response. "Oh! Pardon me!" She awkwardly exclaims before putting her fingers over her eyes, which Reimu recognizes as the way she cast spells from the fairy hunting match earlier.

Rainbow danmaku immediately materialized all over the place, surrounding Reimu. The rainbow danmaku all remained fully stationary for a brief moment before throwing themselves at the shrine maiden trainee.

Reimu went wide-eyed at how tightly packed the rainbow danmaku are. Not getting hit by any one of them is proven to be difficult, and although Reimu tried her best, she still got grazed several times, and even received a direct hit to her left shoulder, which inflicted a paralyzing sensation on that spot.

"Tee-he-he~ How did I do?" Ellen cheerfully inquires.

Reimu rubbed her left shoulder with her right hand. Then she answers Ellen, "Could've been much worse..." The shrine maiden trainee notices that Ellen's hair became messy after the attack just now. "Especially your hair..." She notes.

Then without waiting for Ellen to respond, Reimu retaliates by throwing a dozen Ofuda at her.

Ellen coincidentally decided to spin around at the last second, causing all the Ofuda to fly pass her completely, save for one that sliced off a tiny strand of her messy hair. And judging by how the fluffy-headed girl is still giggling, she apparently didn't even notice that attack.

She did, however, notice her messy hair. "Oh, how annoying! This happens every time I cast a spell!"

Reimu is starting to get annoyed by how Ellen is able to dodge every attack thrown at her so far despite the fact she literally isn't paying attention. "You are annoying in another way, you know that?"

"Am I~?" Ellen absent-mindedly asked while combing her messy hair with her hands.

Reimu decides to fly closer to Ellen before answering, "Yes, you are..."

The shrine maiden trainee follows that by raising her gohei above her head and then bringing it down upon the fluffy-headed girl...

...

"This is the strangest dizziness I've ever had!"

Reimu, back on ground level with everyone else, complained while clutching her head with both her hands.

"That's some mighty strange spell she's got on ya at the last second." Marisa shrugs and throw her arms up.

Meanwhile, Kana is standing over (or hovering over, as her feet aren't touching the ground) an unconscious Ellen, whose hair is so messy she looked like she got struck by lightning several times. "Are you alright?" The poltergeist asked, getting no answer from the fluffy-headed girl.

"The world is literally spinning around in my eyes..." Reimu added to her complain.

"Normally in this type of situations, I would've asked the caster of the spell to dispel it." Kotohime comments while looking at Reimu with a bit of pity. "But since she's unconscious right now, your only solution is to sit it out or wait for her to wake up."

"At least she didn't put ya to sleep." Marisa said.

Rikako is seen writing something into a notebook. She then pockets the notebook after she is done writing. "So, what do you make of the outcome of this round?" The scientist-turned-magician asks Marisa.

Marisa looked at the unconscious Ellen, then at the dizzy Reimu. "Uh...I'll say this round's goin' to Reimu." The witch declares. "She's at least still awake, even if jinxed..."

"I think I'm getting sick from all the spinning... Ugh..." Reimu complained again as she tries to cope with the spell cast upon her.

* * *

Anti-climatic? Yes. This chapter being much shorter than every other? Check. Me being satisfied? Nope, that's a massive "NO" to me.

The delay of this chapter is a combination of both being busy in real life, and having a severe case of Writer's Block. Eventually, I got so irritated by being unable to come up with a proper fight scene of Reimu Vs Ellen that I decided to cut it short and end it in an anti-climatic way so I can get this chapter uploaded, something which I'm going to regret anyway...

So up next, we'll be having Reimu Vs Kana. I promise that it will be much, much better than the sucky mess that is this chapter.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	39. Unnecessary Slapstick

**?-?-?**

While Reimu is complaining about the spell that Ellen had placed upon her at the end of their duel, Yumemi is complaining about something else in the same duel.

"Oh, how anti-climatically short this fight is. I did not get any useful data from it." The professor said. "But at least it ended on a funny note~"

Chiyuri returned to the room, carrying a tray of two sandwiches with her. "So, what did I miss, professor?"

Yumemi kept her eyes fixated on the panel of light. "Shrine Maiden versus Fluffy Head, Shrine Maiden wins." She said. "She got hit with a last second attack, though."

The professor points a finger at one of the panels of light, showing Reimu clutching her head while complaining about the dizziness, then at another panel of light showing an unconscious Ellen (as well as Socrates the cat meowing at her in a deadpan, questioning manner).

"Looks like it almost ended on a double KO." Chiyuri comments as she sets the tray down on the table.

"Very anti-climatically, almost feels like a poorly written fan fiction..." Yumemi adds, her tone suddenly became one of disappointment. "Its a funny moment, alright. But I can't use this to prove the existence of magic to the academics!"

"Then why don't you take a short break and a sandwich while waiting for the next round?" Chiyuri suggested before taking a bite out of one of the sandwiches. "Here's one with strawberry jam, like you asked..."

Upon hearing the words "strawberry jam", Yumemi snatched the other sandwich in a flash. Almost literally, since the professor acted almost faster than Chiyuri can blink.

"Thanks, Chiyuri~" Yumemi said after taking a bite out of the sandwich. "Nothing beats taking a break with strawberry jam sandwiches~"

Chiyuri looks at the tray, blinked, then looks at the sandwich Yumemi had snatched away, and blinked again. "Whenever strawberries are involved, its like you have superhuman powers, professor..."

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

It has been quite a while since Reimu and Ellen had their duel. Ellen is still unconscious, leaving everyone else to wonder exactly how hard has Reimu hit her on the head.

"Feelin' any better?" Marisa asked Reimu.

"I think..." Reimu answers.

Marisa snaps her finger once before announcing, "Great! Let's continue with the spell-slingin' fest!" She then turns toward Kana, Kotohime and Rikako. "So, who's comin' up next?"

Reimu interrupts the witch by tapping on her shoulder. "Before we continue with the...matches, Marisa, I have a question for you."

Marisa glances at the shrine maiden trainee. "Oh? Go ahead, shoot."

"Where are your friends?" was Reimu's question.

Marisa mentally froze in place. She isn't expecting to be asked that question by anyone, and didn't have any answers prepared for it.

"I...uh...ain't got no idea where they've gone to..." The witch makes up a response on the go. "Why'd ya ask?"

Reimu tilts her head slightly. "I'm just curious about their absence. That's all. Its not important, anyway."

Marisa takes her hat off and wipes the dust off the brim, then puts it back on her head. "Well then, let's get back to the match. Who's up next?"

Kana steps forward with her right hand raised. "I think that would be me."

Marisa turns toward Kana. She stared at the poltergeist, as if trying to look for some kind of definite feature. "Uh, what can ya do again?" The witch asks.

"I forgot all about it while fighting Ellen..." Reimu says while twirling her gohei. "Mind demonstrating agai-"

The shrine maiden trainee then accidentally whips herself on her nose with the paper tassel of the gohei, causing her to fall on her back and yelp "Pichun!"

The amusing sight made Kana and Kotohime laugh softly, and had Marisa flinch while uttering a soft "Ouch...". Meanwhile, Rikako said something about having calculated a 68 percent chance of "the shrine maiden hitting herself by accident".

Reimu picks herself up from the ground and rubs her nose. The shrine maiden trainee lets out an embarrassed sigh before saying "Can we please get back to the match?"

"Yeah, right. Why are we wastin' time on anything but fightin'?" Marisa wondered out loud before turning toward Kana. "You! Show us what ya got!"

Kana recoiled in response to Marisa's way of talking to her. "Mein gott! You do not have to be so rude..." The poltergeist isn't quite angry, but she isn't quite happy either, as she chided out Marisa.

Although that didn't seem to get her message through very well. Mostly due to the fact that the first two words in her sentence appears to have been ignored by the translation magic, and rendered in her native language which nobody else present but herself speaks, causing confusion to everyone.

"I'm sorry for my sudden outburst." Kana quickly apologizes. "Let me show you my powers."

That being said, the poltergeist points a finger at the magic wand Marisa is holding, then pulls it out of the witch's hand...without physically touching it.

"Hey, gimme that back!" Marisa, unamused by having her wand taken away, says as she snatches it back and tighten her grip on it. Then when she notices that her witch hat is floating off her head in a similar way, she catches it by the brim with both hands and pulls it back onto her head. "Yeah, yeah, I get that ya can move stuff 'round without touching 'em. Now cut it out!"

Kana giggled a bit. "Consider this payback for being so rude to a poltergeist~"

Before anyone could say anything else, Kotohime interrupts the scene with a simple statement.

"Should I get back to duty and arrest you all for unnecessary interruption~?"

That did not intimidate anyone, but it still got the self-proclaimed police constable's message through very clearly.

"Alright, y'all! Enough with the talkin' and get back to fightin'!" Marisa tells everyone.

* * *

Sorry for yet another late update. Like I said, I am very busy with real life. Specifically college assignments, and seems that I'll be at my busiest for the foreseeable month. This semester is coming to a close, which means that an end-of-semester test is coming right up, which means that I will be occupied by studying for the test so that I don't fail it.

I ended up rushing this chapter as well. But at least this one has some comic relief among the PoDD cast.

That being said, I guarantee you that the next chapter will begin the duel between Reimu and Kana proper. So please stay with me if you can...

_Afterword ends here._


	40. Ghostly Humorous Fight

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

After having wasted almost an hour on a meaningless conversation, the girls decided not to waste any more time and just resume the match they have agreed upon.

Reimu and Kana are in the air, preparing themselves for the match. While Kotohime and Rikako worked together to drag the still unconscious Ellen (with Socrates lying on her belly) to the side. Marisa flew in circles while reminding Reimu and Kana to try  _not_  to kill each other, just knock them out cold.

Though the way Marisa deliver that reminder resulted in her getting poked in the forehead real hard by Reimu.

"Godsdamnit, Marisa!" Reimu says, annoyed while putting her left hand against her left ear. "Put that cone away! It's screeching noise gives me a severe headache, especially at this close!"

Marisa rubs her forehead before stuffing Rikako's megaphone back into her witch hat. "Jeez. What happened to the cheery airhead with a sweet tooth I know?" She laments.

Reimu thwacks Marisa over her head. "For starters, you still haven't apologized for what happened at the shrine two days ago."

There was a moment of silence for everyone...

...

**?-?-?**

"Please just get to the fight already..." Yumemi, bored after seeing an hour's worth of pointless shenanigans, complains to the panel of light that showed her the scene outside the Mysterious Ruins, then sits down on a chair conveniently placed behind her by Chiyuri. By this point, the professor has already eaten the last bit of her strawberry sandwich, and drank every single drop of her strawberry milkshake.

"They like to fight, yes. But they like to talk even more, no?" Chiyuri makes an offhand comment. She too is bored, and lies down on the floor with nothing else in mind. "I hate it when people, smart or stupid, uses only their mouth for a looooong time..."

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

"Uh, about that... Oh, never mind that!" Marisa denies what Reimu just talked about. "Start fightin' already!" The witch then quickly retreats to the ground.

Reimu pouts. "I'll get back to that witch later..."

The shrine maiden trainee turns her attention to Kana.

"Your friend is strange in many way..." The poltergeist voices her opinion.

Reimu shrugs. "'Strange' is an underestimation...I think..."

"The girl whose mind created me is even stranger." Kana reassures.

Reimu, deciding not to waste any more time, prepares a handful of Ofuda to be thrown. "Let's see if you're as strange as her, then~" She says, with a hostile-looking smile on her face.

The shrine maiden trainee then throws the Ofuda at Kana's direction. But seeing the entire barrage of Ofuda literally stopping short of the poltergeist wiped that smile off her face.

Kana covers her mouth with her left hand. "Oh my. Is that hostility I hear?"

The Ofuda barrage suddenly reversed their trajectory, and are now headed toward Reimu instead.

The shrine maiden trainee now finds herself trying to evade her own Ofuda. But every time she manages to dodge one, it will just turn right back toward her, and that happens with all the Ofuda originally intended for Kana.

Eventually, one Ofuda finds its way into Reimu's face, which is then followed by the rest of the barrage. Reimu had always wondered what it feels like to be hit by one of her own Ofuda, and now that she has received the unpleasant answer, she has decided that she don't want to receive it ever again.

Barely managing to keep herself afloat in midair, she slowly moves her hands to pluck all the Ofuda off her face. The shrine maiden trainee then sighs once.

"I wonder if this is what 'tasting one's own medicines' meant?" Kana makes a sarcastic but humorous quip.

Letting go of the spent Ofuda she had just plucked off her face, Reimu musters all her strength to point her gohei at Kana before declaring, "I'm going to put you behind several layers of seals after this!"

...

Reimu's declaration is loud enough that Marisa can hear it all the way from the ground. "Geez, I wonder if all those temper came from her puttin' on weight?" The witch wonders to herself.

...

Having just learned that Ofuda won't work on Kana, Reimu decided to just fire danmaku at the poltergeist. The shrine maiden trainee doesn't know whether danmaku can hurt a poltergeist or will just pass through one harmlessly, but considering that Kana is actively evading Reimu's danmaku, the former might be true.

While Kana has her own danmaku attack, she doesn't use it very often. Instead, the poltergeist seems to prefer literally disappearing into thin air and then reappearing right behind Reimu. The first attempt was just Kana trying to spook Reimu, which resulted in Reimu retaliating with a swing of her gohei (that didn't work as the physical strike passed through her harmlessly). The second attempt onwards are either point blank danmaku attacks or swings her metal sign as if it's a mace, which has caught Reimu by surprise a few times.

"Godsdamn. Even Mima isn't this problematic..." Reimu laments after several failed attempts at landing a hit on Kana as well as getting hit a few times herself. At the present moment, Kana disappeared into thin air and had not reappeared yet.

The shrine maiden trainee suddenly becomes tense as she feels something caressing her hair, even though she's by herself right now. Frantic, she swings her gohei around in an attacking motion, and gets nothing at all.

Then she feels that same presence tugging at her ribbon.

"GET YOUR SPECTRAL HANDS OFF MY RIBBON!" Reimu nearly loses it as she hysterically and rapidly jabs her gohei at whatever or whoever is behind her.

Kana reappears not too far in front of Reimu. The poltergeist is giggling. "I'm not even touching it~"

Reimu grits her teeth at hearing the response. "Curse you." She quickly raises her left hand to catch her ribbon just as it starts coming loose. Then she fires a burst of danmaku at Kana in retaliation.

Kana evades the burst of danmaku, then levitates some pebbles from the ground and flings them at Reimu. "You are so clingy of your ribbon." She says in the meantime.

Reimu did not respond to that. At least not verbally. After evading some of Kana's pebbles and deflecting others with her gohei, she responds with a barrage of danmaku aimed at the poltergeist.

Kana uses her powers to bring out her metal sign from out of nowhere. Then she throws it with a spin at Reimu's direction.

The spinning metal sign wiped away any danmaku in its path, as it continues on its trajectory towards Reimu.

Seeing the metal sign coming towards her, Reimu fires a burst of danmaku at it in an attempt to knock it out of the air. But that didn't work. so the shrine maiden trainee is forced to dive under it to avoid being hit. What Reimu did not expect is the metal sign stopping dead and completely freezes in midair right above her before it suddenly changes behavior and, with a wide rolling arc, smacks itself into her face.

"Pichun!" Reimu cried out. She thought for sure that the smacking is hard enough to break her nose. Moving her left hand up to massage her nose, she sighs in relief to find that it is still intact. Being smacked in the face did, however, irritate her more than she already is.

Reimu first gets rid of the metal sign by drop kicking it into the ground so hard it spawns a crater (which Marisa, Kotohime and Rikako had to run out of the way and drag the still unconscious Ellen to avoid) that is immediately reoccupied by the dirt it threw out, burying it under.

After the metal sign has been dealt with, Reimu turns her attention back onto Kana.

"I've had enough of you..." The shrine maiden trainee says.

Then she suddenly charges toward Kana at a high speed, gohei held tightly in her hand.

"Oh my!" Caught by surprise by Reimu's sudden increase in attack intensity, Kana uses her power to levitate as many pebbles as she can from the ground, and gather them together to form a temporary wall in front of her.

Without slowing down the slightest bit, Reimu responds to Kana's defensive measure by firing a concentrated barrage of danmaku at the wall of pebbles. The concentrated barrage did not blast all the way through, but the spot Reimu had been firing at is weakened enough that all the shrine maiden trainee needs to do at that point is to hold the Ying-Yang Orb in front of her as a makeshift battering ram to smash a hole through it.

The moment Reimu smashes through the wall of pebbles, Kana went paler than she already is, and uttered a single phrase right before she receives the knockout blow...

"Verdamt!"

...

**?-?-?**

"Ouch..."

Yumemi winced at seeing Kana Anaberal receiving a direct hit from the equivalent of a battering ram right in her face.

"Even if she is not a living being, that has got to hurt  _a lot_." Chiyuri throws an offhand remark.

Yumemi watches the conclusion of the fight between Reimu and Kana through a panel of light for a few more seconds...

Then she smiled.

"Well, although I feel sorry about how miss poltergeist has her lights knocked out of her, I'm happy that I gathered lots of useful data in this fight." Yumemi says.

"For science?" Chiyuri asks.

Yumemi turns around to face the assistant, with a smug on her face. "Yes. FOR SCIENCE!" She loudly declares. "Grand Unified Theory be damned!"

* * *

Whew. Finally got around to finishing this chapter without making it look rushed and crappy.

I would also like to apologize for being a full month late with this chapter. I was preparing for exams in the past month and so couldn't afford to spend any time on writing the chapter.

With that out of the way, next up will be Reimu vs Kotohime. Now what tricks does Gensokyo's resident self-proclaimed police constable has up her sleeves?

"And that, as they say, is that"

_Afterword ends here._


	41. Guns Are For Barbarians

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

"I know danmaku ain't s'pose to be lethal, but ain't it overkill to hit her so hard?"

Marisa asks Reimu while giving an aside glance at Kana who, while  _isn't_  knocked out cold, is kept immobilized on the ground by several Ofuda stuck all over her body.

"This is what you get for crossing a Hakurei~" Reimu answers, happy that her fight with the poltergeist is over. The shrine maiden trainee is currently sitting on a tree stump on the ground, taking a rest from the fight she just had.

"Consider this a lesson learned by me, then." Kana, lying face-down on the ground whilst immobilized by Reimu's Ofuda, tells everyone present, with no annoyance detectable in her tone. Although her accent along with her current state meant that nobody could hear what she is saying despite the translation spell working normally.

Marisa looks at the immobilized poltergeist. "I can't quite hear what you're sayin'. But mind if I help ya peel those off?"

It was Reimu who responded to the witch's question. "Only  _after_  I'm done with all of you~"

It was then that Ellen came to, nearly an hour after she has been knocked out cold by Reimu.

"Love Potion Number 9!" Ellen suddenly exclaims as she gets up from unconsciousness. Socrates, who is lying on the fluffy-headed girl's lap, reacts as though he had seen this several times in the past.

Marisa waved at Ellen. "Oh hi, Ellen. How're ya feelin'?"

"Fluffy~" Ellen answers. She notices Kana being immobilized by a dozen of Reimu's Ofuda. "Oh, did something happen to her?"

Marisa looks at Kana, then at Reimu, before setting her sight back on Ellen. "You...uh...kinda slept through Reimu beatin' her up..."

Ellen tilts her head slightly and makes that confused look on her face. "Did I somehow fall asleep? I  _cannae_  recall..."

Marisa gives Reimu an aside glance. "Gee, I wonder whose fault is that...?" The witch says sarcastically.

Reimu attempts to dismiss the matter by getting up from the tree stump, then asking a question. "Who's up next, anyway?"

Kotohime steps forward, with her long gun to bear. "That would be me. Police Constable Kotohime of the Gensokyo Police Force at your service. Though I'm off-duty at the moment." She greets the shrine maiden trainee.

Reimu looks at the self-proclaimed police constable's long gun with a bit of scrutiny. "Is that...a gun?"

Marisa also looks at the long gun with scrutiny. "That ain't the same stuff used by the village peacekeepers and hunters." The witch notes. "Ain't got any smell of gunpowder..."

Kotohime holds out her long gun to show it to Reimu and Marisa. "This is the newest type I just picked up three days ago. Its waterproof, and can fire several bullets consecutively. Or is it danmaku?" She then glares at Marisa, with a smug on her face. "Of course, unlike a certain kleptomaniac witch, I actually  _did_  pay for it."

There was an awkward moment of silence that left everyone just standing where they are, except for Ellen who just started playing with Socrates.

Marisa shrugs at what she hears. "I think I know who you bought it from..."

Kotohime then turns toward Reimu. "Let's not waste any more time on chit-chats. I'm anxious to get things started."

Reimu points her gohei at the self-proclaimed police constable, or rather, her long gun. "I'm anxious to beat you up for using such a barbaric weapon as a gun."

Kotohime is confused by the shrine maiden trainee's statement. "Barbaric?"

Marisa leans toward Kotohime and whispers to her, "She just hates guns a lot. Dunno why she thinks so, though..."

...

Preferring not to waste any more time on meaningless acts, Reimu and Kotohime took to the skies, fully prepared to start dueling each other. Kotohime is twirling her long gun with one hand, trying to look cool with it.

Ellen is helping Kana peel off all the Ofuda that are stuck to her, Rikako appears to be writing down notes, while Marisa is flying on her broomstick in a circle around Reimu and Kotohime.

"Since you lot know the rules already, I ain't gonna repeat it again." Marisa tells the two combatants. "Y'all ready?"

"Even off duty, a police constable is always ready~" Kotohime cheerfully boast while she continues twirling the long gun.

Though in the process of twirling her long gun, the self-proclaimed police constable fires a shot that went over Reimu's head, completely by accident. The loud bang of the accidental gunshot caught everyone by surprise, especially Reimu who thought she was being shot at.

"Sorry, that was entirely my fault..." Kotohime awkwardly apologizes. "Thankfully this gun only fires non-lethal danmaku."

Reimu is sent into a shock by the gunshot, and it took her a moment to recover. "Be careful with that! You almost shot the next Hakurei shrine maiden!" She says furiously.

Marisa puts herself in between the shrine maiden trainee and the self-proclaimed police constable before the former starts the duel prematurely. "Hey, hey, hey! We ain't gonna have any maimin' and killin' no matter what! So calm down, Reimu!" The witch then turns toward Kotohime. "And I thought people like ya know better than to show off..."

Rikako can be seen mumbling about something. What she is mumbling about is not audible to anyone, but one can guess it might be directed at Kotohime.

"Well then, good luck to the both of ya!" Marisa says to Reimu and Kotohime before heading back to ground level.

With that, Reimu and Kotohime turns back at each other, with the looks on their face that shows their intention of defeating the other.

"I can't seal you away since you're human..." Reimu says, with her gohei pointed at Kotohime. "But I'll show you that elegance beats barbarism."

"I can't arrest you since you haven't committed any crimes yet..." Kotohime also says, with her long gun aimed at Reimu. "But I'll show you that simplicity beats complexity~"

* * *

And with that, Reimu Vs Kotohime begins.

Why does Reimu consider guns to be barbaric? Well, if you look at any works with characters that prefer swords/martial arts/magic spells/whatever there is - the "elegant and civilized weapons" so to speak - when guns exist in their world, chances are that the character might consider guns to be "inelegant and uncivilized" - or "barbaric" if you would. Think about it: while swords/martial arts/magic spells/whatever there is are oftentimes designed in fiction to look all flashy and cool and takes some skills to master, guns are all about "point at enemy, don't point at ally, pull trigger" and anyone except really stupid people could learn to use guns within minutes of picking one up.

Enough with the babble. I'll let you interpret the rest in your own ways.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	42. Police Brutality in Reverse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No police brutality actually occurs in this chapter, so viewer discretion is not needed.

**?-?-?**

"Now I'm curious to see how well a simple gun does in comparison to all those fancy magic spells and..." Yumemi says to herself, and then fumbled at how to describe the danmaku used by the Gensokyo girls. "How should I put this?"

"I'm thinking...magic energy paintball. How about that?" Chiyuri suggests to the professor.

Yumemi immediately responds with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Too straightforward. I cannot professionally present my findings if I call something 'magic energy paintball', even if it really is magic." She says.

"How about we just call it 'danmaku', like these girls have been?" Chiyuri suggests again.

Yumemi claps her hands. "Right! 'Danmaku' it is, then~" The professor then taps on the panel of light in front of her, making it show the fight between Reimu and Kotohime up close. "Now let's see. Which one will come out the winner? Fancy magic, or simple firearms?"

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

As it turns out, while Kotohime's long gun cannot create a whole barrage of danmaku, the self-proclaimed police constable is actually quite a good shot with it despite all the tumbling and rolling about in midair as she dodges Reimu's danmaku. For Reimu, dodging Kotohime's gun-fired danmaku is difficult due to how accurate she is with the long gun, and so is shooting back at her.

The shrine maiden trainee yelped as a shot grazes her feet.

"Oh, Reimu, I thought a Hakurei is much better at this~" Kotohime says with a smirk, as she takes aim with her long gun.

Reimu, not bothering to talk back, shoots back at the self-proclaimed police constable before she can pull the trigger.

Kotohime jerks to the side to avoid Reimu's danmaku, but one does manage to graze her slightly below her left shoulder...which revealed that she is wearing an armor under her floral-pattern kimono. Not noticing the hole in her kimono, the self-proclaimed police constable resumes firing her long gun at Reimu.

Reimu did, however, notice the armor.  _Guess I'll have to hit her in the head, then._  Reimu thought to herself.

Kotohime suddenly pulls out a small stick of dynamite - with the fuse somehow already lit - and throws it at Reimu. "Here's something for you~"

Reimu deflects the dynamite away with her gohei. Unfortunately, she didn't watch where she deflected it toward, and the dynamite ended up landing near Marisa's feet.

Frantic, Marisa tries to put out the fuse by stepping on it repeatedly. When that fails, the witch quickly kicks the dynamite into the woods, where the ensuing explosion knocks several small trees over. The loud noise of the explosion caused Ellen to jump up a bit, though the fluffy-headed girl forgets about it within five seconds as she goes back to trying to peel off an extra sticky Ofuda from Kana's face.

Rikako's reaction is to simply mumble "That maniacal princess-slash-policewoman and her bombs..." to herself, while continuing writing down notes.

"'Ey!" Marisa proceeds to express her anger toward Reimu's carelessness. "Ya almost blew me up with that, ya dumbass!"

"Sorry, Marisa!" Reimu apologizes to Marisa.

"Don't worry. These bad girls can't kill. They're danmaku-type explosions." Kotohime explains as she produces another dynamite - again with the fuse somehow already lit.

Reimu fires a single danmaku at the dynamite, slicing its fuse off and thus rendering it harmless for the moment. "Lethal or not, I don't think anyone wants to be blown up..." The shrine maiden trainee says.

The self-proclaimed police constable tosses the fuse-less dynamite over her shoulder. "Well, neither do I~" She follows that statement with a quick shot from her long gun.

That shot came so suddenly and quickly that Reimu isn't able to react in time. She took the shot on her right arm.

Reimu cries out in pain from the shot, dropping her gohei in the process. There is no injury due to the long gun firing danmaku, but the result of a limb getting hit by danmaku is said limb getting paralyzed for a period of time. The duration of paralysis differs between species, but the effect can last up to an hour for humans.

"That..." Reimu, while grabbing her right arm with her left hand, speaks out. "...Is playing dirty!"

Kotohime responds with a scoff. "If that is cheating for you, then you won't last long against a very pragmatic fighter..." The self-proclaimed police constable then follows that with another quick shot.

Reimu, having become more alert after the previous surprise shot, notices it in time to dodge the shot by leaning to the sides. The shrine maiden trainee, knowing that she needs her gohei to stay even with Kotohime's long gun, dives toward where it was half-embedded in the ground.

"Going to get your toy, Reimu~?" Kotohime says as she tosses several sticks of dynamites at Reimu's direction.

Reimu swerves to the side to avoid the dynamites, which due to having shorter fuses, explodes in the air where she was a second ago. Without breaking her dive toward her gohei, the shrine maiden trainee retaliates by releasing a cluster of Ofuda which then homes in on Kotohime.

The self-proclaimed police constable is able to shoot all of those Ofuda out of the air, though one of them got close enough to her that the explosion dazed her for a few seconds. "Damn it!" She exclaims.

That few seconds is enough for Reimu to reach her gohei without any outside interruptions. As soon as she grabs it (with her left hand, as her right is still paralyzed), the shrine maiden trainee turns her attention back on Kotohime and starts firing a barrage of danmaku at her.

Kotohime recovers just in time to see Reimu firing at her. She launches herself rightwards to avoid the barrage. But with the tables turned, the self-proclaimed police constable now finds herself unable to shoot back at Reimu amidst the barrage. "Damn." She uttered.

In a moment of carelessness, Kotohime took a danmaku right to her chest. Although her armor saved her from being knocked out, getting hit still caused her to flinch which resulted in more danmaku hitting her all over her body.

Reimu kept firing danmaku to keep Kotohime incapacitated as she closes the distance between herself and the self-proclaimed police constable.

The shrine maiden trainee only stopped firing when she got up close to Kotohime, after which she raised her gohei up and brings it down upon Kotohime. "You are under arrest!" She quips.

But Kotohime is able to point her long gun at Reimu, and pulls the trigger at the same moment the gohei impacted her head...

...

"So, uh, how's the shoulder, Reimu?"

Marisa asked Reimu, who sat on a tree stump as she takes a rest after defeating Kotohime in the duel. The shrine maiden trainee had taken a shot from Kotohime's long gun to her left shoulder point-blank, which resulted in her entire left arm being paralyzed. And with her right arm still paralyzed by the shot mid-duel, she effectively has no usable arms for the next hour or so.

"You try getting shot by a gun, Marisa..." Reimu says with irritation at having both arms paralyzed.

Marisa turned to where Kotohime laid. The self-proclaimed police constable miraculously didn't get knocked out cold by the blow to the head, but that throbbing pain is too much for her to bear and so she decided to lie still on the ground, with both hands pressing at the spot that was hit. "I should've brought a medicine box along..." She berated herself.

Absent-minded Ellen squatted down next to Kotohime. "Do you need one of my magic potions right now?" The fluffy-headed girl asks her.

Kana is using her powers to levitate Kotohime's long gun and inspect it by continuously pulling the lever that seemingly ejected bullet casings every time it was pulled. On closer look, those weren't bullet casings at all, but rather what looked like bullet casing-shaped spent magic energy that disintegrated within a second of hitting the ground. The poltergeist has pulled the lever so many times by this point that, if the gun had ejected real bullet casings, there would be a hill-sized pile already.

Rikako isn't doing anything physical aside from mumbling to herself, "Told her to update her fighting style last week..."

Marisa turns back to Reimu. "No thanks. I'm gonna be needin' my arms and legs to fight ya. And speaking of fightin'..."

That said, the witch turned toward Rikako.

"'Ey, you there in the white coat!" Marisa calls out to the magician-turned-scientist.

Rikako, mildly irritated by what Marisa just called her, grunts as she replies. "I know what you are going to say. I am ready, but I do suggest letting the shrine maiden recover first so our duel remains fair."

Marisa glances at Reimu, who agrees with Rikako by saying that she wants to rest for the next one hour.

"Well, whatever suits ya..." Marisa shrugs."

...

**?-?-?**

"And this proves once and for all that magic spells and firearms can fight on even grounds if you know what you're doing." Yumemi concludes.

"But weren't that gun and the dynamites themselves magical?" Chiyuri points out for the professor. "That shrine maiden girl took two direct hits at point-blank range yet suffered no physical injuries whatsoever."

Yumemi attempts to slap Chiyuri on the back, but the assistant evades the slap by crouching down at the right moment.

"Is that even a major point?!" Yumemi wonders out loud.

* * *

Well, that's that for our resident maniacal-princess-slash-police-constable.

You're probably asking this question: "How do you make guns and dynamites non-lethal?"

Well, danmaku is magic. Do I have to say more?

And so, next round will be Reimu vs Rikako. Shrine maiden (trainee) vs magician-turned-scientist, I wonder who will win?

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	43. Magic Vs. (Improvised) Technology

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

An hour has already passed, and Reimu's arms are no longer paralyzed by this point.

Rikako has also used the past hour to fire darts from her crossbow at a tree, and doing a through inspection of the weapon between each brief firing sessions. Reimu has assumed that since the crossbow in question operates with no magic whatsoever, the magician-turned-scientist is simply making sure it still works properly.

Though it would appear that the latest test fire has caused a problem that made Rikako frown (the frown is noticeably different than her usual stoic, deadpan expression). She sat down on the ground, grabbed a wooden mallet from her (currently not in use) rocket-equipped backpack, and began hitting a section of the crossbow with it.

"What'cha doin'?" Marisa, who doesn't know what Rikako is doing, appears behind her and asks.

"Maintenance." Rikako answers without pausing her work. "In simpler terms, I'm making sure it won't break down at the worst possible moment."

Marisa snickers on hearing that. "Why don'tcha use a repair spell instead? You're a magician, after all." She adds in a mocking tone.

Rikako did not allow herself to be distracted by the witch's insult, as she continues hitting the crossbow with the mallet. After several hits, the magician-turned scientist stopped her work, and brought the crossbow close to her eyes (with the firing end facing away and the darts removed, as well as not having her fingers near the trigger) to inspect it up close. Satisfied, she sets the crossbow down. "I prefer methods with logical explanations, and magic does not fit the criteria." Rikako then reply to Marisa's mock.

Reimu suddenly appears next to Rikako. "That pretty much makes you a heretic." The shrine maiden trainee says, hands on her hips.

Rikako glances at Reimu. "Heretic? Me?" She raises her crossbow, then pulls the bowstring to firing position. "Because I detest magic despite living in a land full of magic?"

Marisa put herself between Reimu and Rikako. "'Ey, not right here, y'all!" The witch then points at the sky. "Do it up there!"

Rikako goes to put on her rocket-equipped backpack. "As you say..." She says.

The magician-turned-scientist, with her crossbow in hand, took off into the air without saying another word.

The smoke released from the rocket-equipped backpack made Marisa cough a bit. "Ugh. Someone's gonna need to work on somethin'..." The witch remarks, covering her face with one hand while fanning the smoke away from her face with the other.

Reimu turns toward Kotohime, who has recovered from the knockout blow delivered to her earlier. "Has she always been this..." The shrine maiden trainee asks while gesturing at her own face.

"Stoic?" Kotohime answers while pressing a bag of ice (which was magicked into existence by Ellen) against her forehead. "She's been like that for as long as I know her."

Reimu picks up her gohei, and gently beats it against her palm. "Well, let's see if she stays that way after a good whack to the head." Saying that, the shrine maiden trainee took off into the air after Rikako.

"Geez, what's with her and hitting people on their heads?" Marisa wonders out loud.

...

**?-?-?**

"I'm kind of not looking forward to the next one, actually..." Yumemi remarks about the upcoming duel between Reimu and Rikako.

"Why?" Chiyuri asks, wondering why the professor said so.

With a wave of her hand, Yumemi summoned a panel of light that showed Rikako up close. "She's why." She explains. "She's the only one here who won't be using any magic. Which means the only data I can gather in this fight are from..." Yumemi slid her left hand across the panel of light, making it switch to showing Reimu up close. "...Her."

Chiyuri looks at the panel of light. "Oh, I see." The assistant remarks. "I can sort of guess how this fight is going to turn out..."

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

"So, do I need to repeat the rules?" Marisa, sitting on her flying broomstick, asks Reimu and Rikako as she hovered between the two.

"Just beat the opponent without killing her." Reimu says. "That was said for the last three rounds, wasn't it?"

Rikako arms her crossbow by putting on some kind of small hopper that fed darts to the firing mechanism of the weapon. "Just let us begin." She says.

"Can't ya show some more expression?" Marisa tells the magician-turned-scientist. "Ah, never mind." She then decides to not explore that question any further. "Start fightin' whenever you're ready!" With that said, the witch retreated to ground level.

Reimu prepares a handful of Ofuda. "So, can we start?" She asks Rikako.

Rikako brought her crossbow to bear. "I can, when you can." She answers.

Reimu smiled. "Okay then..."

The shrine maiden trainee immediately begins by throwing the Ofuda at Rikako...

...But since the magician-turned-scientist isn't using any magic (and flies using a rocket backpack), there are no magic energy for the Ofuda to home in to, which resulted in all of them flying right past Rikako despite her not even bothering to dodge.

"Figures..." Reimu remarks as she slaps herself on the forehead. "No magic, so the Ofuda don't know what they are looking for."

Rikako takes aim with her crossbow. "My turn." She quips.

The magician-turned-scientist then fires a volley of darts at Reimu.

Reimu instinctively dodges the volley, and because the darts are slower than danmaku, even manages to catch one in her hand. "These darts look strange..." She says as she takes a closer look at the caught dart.

The shrine maiden trainee quickly remembers that during the fairy hunt that came before the entire idea of the duel, fairies were shot by these very same darts and they quickly went out cold even if they were merely hit in the limbs. This tells Reimu that Rikako had coated these dart with something.

Shuddering at the thought of getting hit by one of these darts, Reimu tosses away the one she was holding...

...

...Which fell pointy end first on Socrates. The white cat turns to look at the offending dart on his back, then simply meows in boredom before going out cold like the fairies before had.

"Oh, Socrates, something fell on you!" Ellen said to Socrates, as she removes the dart from his back. "Socrates, are you sleepy?" The fluffy-headed girl adds upon noticing that the cat made no response.

"I think the cat's had his lights knocked right outta him." Marisa tells Ellen.

Ellen blinked. She doesn't understand what the witch is saying. "Lights? Socrates  _cannae_  glow. Or can he?"

Marisa sighed at the fluffy-headed girl's empty-minded response. "Ah, never mind..."

...

Rikako's attacks are actually easier for Reimu to counter compared to what Ellen, Kana and Kotohime threw at her in their respective fights. The magician-turned-scientist's darts flew slower than danmaku, making them easier to evade or deflect. The hopper that feed darts to the crossbow also runs out of darts at intervals, which left Rikako unable to shoot back for a few seconds while she replaces the empty dart hopper with a full one, which ironically is produced from the very  _magical_  bottomless inventory that every magic user has (seeing she has taken more hoppers out of her rocket backpack than it should logically be able to hold), despite Rikako's complete rejection of magic. In addition, her flying with the rocket backpack is not as efficient as everyone else flying on their own power (or with a broomstick, in Marisa's case), not to mention noisy (magic-powered flight is silent).

Despite all these flaws of not using magic, Rikako still proved to be a challenge, albeit only more challenging than fairies, for Reimu. The few times Reimu moves in to hit Rikako with her gohei while the latter is loading a new dart hopper, Rikako avoids the attack simply by deactivating her rocket backpack to fall for a single second before reactivating it, and that single second is enough for her to finish replacing the dart hopper.

 _Despite not using any magic, she sure is skilled..._  Reimu thought.

Reimu swings her gohei to deflect a volley of darts, then counters by firing danmaku at Rikako, who nonchalantly dodges the counterattack by simply moving to the side.

Rikako then counterattacks by removing the now empty dart hopper and simply throwing it at Reimu.

Reimu leans to the side to dodge the thrown dart hopper, but not completely as she gets clipped on the forehead by one of its corners. "Ow!" The shrine maiden trainee cries out, pressing a hand against her forehead.

Rikako then reaches for a new dart hopper from her rocket backpack, but her hand came out empty. "I'm out of darts..." The magician-turned-scientist says as she puts the crossbow away.

Reimu grinned. "So does that mean you're throwing the fight?"

Rikako pulls what looked like a gear out of her coat pocket. "Not yet..." The normally stoic Rikako can be seen  _grinning_. "I have another trick prepared."

The magician-turned-scientist then throws that gear like it was a shuriken, sending it flying toward Reimu.

Reimu attempts to deflect the gear with her gohei. While she does manage to hit it, the gear became stuck to the gohei despite it's lack of sharp edges. The shrine maiden trainee stares at the gear for a brief moment, then tries to manually pluck it off, only to have it get stuck on her left hand now. Apparently the gear is coated with some kind of very strong glue.

"This is your trick?" Reimu looks with annoyance at the gear stuck to her left hand as she tries to shake it off.

Rikako pulls out more gears from her coat pocket. "You will see..." That being said, she then send the gears flying toward Reimu.

Reimu dives to avoid the gears, then fires danmaku back at Rikako in retaliation.

Again, Rikako nonchalantly dodges the return fire by simply moving to the sides.

"Are you a scientist, or a ninja?" Reimu wondered out loud.

"I believe that is not relevant right now." Rikako nonchalantly dismisses the shrine maiden trainee, as she prepares more gears to throw...

...Although the magician-turned-scientist stopped mid-throw when she hears her rocket backpack going completely silent...

...

As it turns out, Rikako's rocket backpack has, in her words, "ran out of fuel", which caused it to stop working altogether, forcing her to throw the fight.

"Didn't think  _that_  through, huh?" Marisa, pointing the megaphone which she stole from Rikako earlier in the day at Rikako herself, tells the magician-turned-scientist in a mocking tone. "How's it like, the feelin' that ya have to raise the white flag to save ya own hide?"

An embarrassed Rikako sat next to a large rock, with her rocket backpack laying on its side by her feet. There is no questioning that she is also feeling disappointed at the moment.

Kotohime walks up to Rikako, dropping what looked like a large folded piece of cloth over the rocket backpack. "Looks like your parachute didn't work."

Kana thought of playing a ghostly prank to liven up Rikako's mood. But the plan did not go through when the poltergeist could not think of a ghostly prank to pull.

Ellen either doesn't even know what is going on, or have forgotten about the events that led up to it. "Why is she so sad? Does she need a happiness potion? I have a bottle with me!" The fluffy-headed girl says, while hugging Socrates who is still out cold from being hit by Rikako's dart earlier.

Reimu, for once, feels like pitying Rikako. "The very last thing I did while fighting her is to make sure she doesn't fall to her death." The shrine maiden trainee says to everyone. "Heretic or not, maybe we should give her a moment for herself. She helped me get that gear unstuck from my left hand, after all..."

Marisa suddenly turns toward Reimu. "Speakin' of a moment, Reimu..."

Reimu frowned, she knows  _exactly_  what Marisa is going to say...

* * *

I'm so very sorry for delaying this chapter for nearly a month. Heavy Writer's Block made me unable to think of what to write, and even then it ended up ending in an anti-climatic way...

And so we wrap up the Reimu Vs Rikako fight. Up next: Reimu Vs Marisa (again), then we'll move on to Chiyuri, and finally concluding the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc with the defeat of Yumemi. Stay tuned!

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	44. Ain't Got No Time For This!

**?-?-?**

"As expected, nothing research worthy to record for this one..." Yumemi complains about the disappointing fight between Reimu and Rikako. "It ended very anti-climatically too."

"At least its funny." Chiyuri remarks. "What's with her jetpack running out of fuel at an epic moment..." The assistant snickers at the thought of Rikako's epic failure.

Yumemi stares at a panel of light that showed the exact moment of Rikako's surrendering (and the magician-turned-scientist's panicking expression when her rocket backpack went out) with some scrutiny...before giggling about it herself. "You are right. It  _is_  funny." The scientist remarks.

"So now..." Chiyuri taps on a different panel of light, which then shows Marisa's face up close. "I'm guessing its her turn? The witch girl with that funny accent?"

Yumemi turns toward that panel. "Who else? She's the only one that hasn't fought anyone yet. I would like to see how a witch with a cowboy attitude fights..."

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

"Marisa, what are you doing?" Reimu asked as she sees Marisa fumbling with a small crystal orb she is holding.

"Just tryin' to call my friends, see how they're doin' back home..." Marisa replies while she switches between shaking the crystal orb and tapping it with her fingers. "Of course, 'home' bein' where we're studyin' with Miss Mima." The witch added.

Ellen peeks over Marisa's shoulder. "Oh, a crystal orb! I used to call Hannah with one! Although I have lost mine a long time ago..." The fluffy-headed girl says.

"Well, too bad." Marisa says to Ellen. "Ya should've been more careful."

After fumbling about with the crystal orb for another full minute, Marisa finally got it to work, which is indicated by its changing color.

Marisa still isn't satisfied, though. "No one's home? Must be out traini-"

_"MARISA GENEVIEVE KIRISAME!"_

The sudden shouting from the crystal orb caught Marisa by surprise, causing her to drop it onto the ground. Reimu and Ellen also reeled back in reaction.

Marisa, seemingly worried about being caught for something, slowly picks up the crystal orb. "Y-yes, Miss Mima?"

An image of Mima manifested in the crystal orb. "Got you there, have I, Marisa?" The evil spirit's image in the crystal orb is seen snickering.

Marisa scoffed upon hearing that. "Really? Didn't know ya still had a sense of humor..." She says in a sarcastic tone.

"I was once a human like you, after all." Mima replies. The evil spirit then clears her throat (or pretend to, since there is no need for a ghost to do so) before saying, "Now then, it seems that you're right up next, Marisa. You better beat Reimu up or else..."

Marisa interrupts Mima. "Or else ya gonna ground me. Yeah, I geddit. I'm plannin' on kickin' her behind, anyway."

Mima smiles. "Glad to hear that, my pupil."

"Oh, by the way..." Marisa added before the evil spirit could end the call. "How's everyone doin' back there?"

Mima appeared to glance over her shoulder before getting back to Marisa. "Let me just say that Fey and Rey have just did it again."

Marisa scoffed again, this time in an amusing manner. "Gee, I wonder what it'll take to make the twins stop putting love potions in everyone's drinks..."

"And you don't want to receive the same punishment that I am going to give them..." Mima tells Marisa before her image in the crystal orb fades away.

The scene became completely silent for a moment, as everyone there stared at the crystal orb awkwardly (even Kotohime and Rikako).

Kotohime walks closer to Marisa, then puts her hand over the witch's shoulders. "Your middle name is  _Genevieve_ ~?" The self-proclaimed police constable asks as she teases Marisa.

"Shut up!" Marisa dismisses the question and then pokes Kotohime on her forehead.

Coincidentally, that was the same spot that Reimu had hit earlier, and it sends Kotohime reeling back while uttering a soft "Ow!"

"Genevieve? How saintly~" Ellen also teased, or maybe she really is saying it sincerely. It is hard to determine which is the case when it comes to Ellen.

"What kind of name is  _Genevieve_?" Reimu wonders out loud.

Marisa became very irritated. "Oh, c'mon!" She complains as she tugs on her hat. "Stop talkin' 'bout my name already! Can't I have my duel with Reimu now?!"

Reimu shrugs. "Whatever you say.  _Genevieve_..." The shrine maiden trainee snickered immediately after finishing that sentence.

Marisa groaned.

...

After teasing Marisa about her middle name for several minutes, Reimu took to the air to get prepared for the final round of the duel.

"I guess we're fighting each other again..." Reimu remarks as she faces Marisa.

Marisa twirled her magic wand while sitting on her flying broomstick. "And ya get to go in there if ya win!" The witch then points her wand at the Mysterious Ruins. "But..." She then points at herself. "Ya gonna have to beat me!"

Reimu raises her gohei up to eye level. "And what new tricks have Mima taught you lately?"

Marisa points her wand at Reimu again. "Oh, nothin' flashy...and nothin' personal..."

Then without any warning, the witch tosses a flask at Reimu.

Reimu attempts to dodge the thrown flask by moving to the side, but the flask exploded near her anyway, which created a magical cage that trapped her inside.

"This feels very flashy and personal..." Reimu remarks as she looks for a way to break out of the magical cage.

Marisa laughs in a hammy way. "Anyway, ya ain't gonna be doin' anything in there! So why don'tcha suck it up right now?" She taunts the shrine maiden trainee.

Reimu simply slaps an Ofuda on the magical cage. Within seconds, the magical cage is dispelled, freeing the shrine maiden trainee.

"You need to do better than that, Marisa~" Reimu mocked.

"Dammit..." Marisa expresses disappointment. "Time to bring out the big wands, then!"

Then, using her magic wand, the witch draws a magic circle in front of her. The magic circle starts glowing a soft white upon being drawn.

"Ya know, Miss Mima taught me more than just tricks, like this one 'ere..." Marisa says. Then thrusting her magic wand into the magic circle... "BLAST!"

A mid-sized danmaku shot out of the magic circle at a high speed toward Reimu.

Reimu attempts to swat the danmaku away with her gohei. But the danmaku exploded on contact with the gohei, sending Reimu tumbling away in the air.

The shrine maiden trainee rights herself up after five seconds of tumbling. "Okay, I take it back. You did much better than last time..." She says seriously.

In retaliation for Marisa's attack, Reimu fires a barrage of danmaku, plus a few Ofuda, at the witch.

Marisa evades the danmaku barrage by simply flying out of the way. "Ya gonna have to do better than that, Reimu!" She taunts, then fires another blast danmaku from the magic circle.

Reimu moves to the side to avoid the blast danmaku, but barely clears it since it was moving so fast. "I'm going to, Marisa!" She then fires back at Marisa while strafing around the witch.

"That's more like it!" Marisa says as she zips through Reimu's danmaku while firing more blast danmaku at the shrine maiden trainee.

Reimu dodges Marisa's blast danmaku, then sends several Ofuda toward her.

Marisa dodges those Ofuda, but one managed to impact her magic circle, shattering it with an explosion that almost knocked the witch off her flying broomstick.

"Whoa!" Marisa yelped. She managed to avoid falling off her flying broomstick completely by catching onto it with one hand. "So much for blastin' her..." Marisa said to herself as she dangles off her flying broomstick by one hand.

Reimu approached Marisa and hovered in front of her. "Do you need a hand, or a white flag~?" She said with a naughty smile to the witch.

Marisa's response is to simply kick the shrine maiden trainee in her abdomen. Although the kick isn't very hard due to Marisa being unable to exert much force to her legs while dangling on one hand, it still knocked Reimu several feet back since she's not on the ground either.

"I ain't got no use for either!" Marisa says, then somersaults back onto the flying broomstick. "Ya know what? Screw this! I'm gonna race ya there!"

With that said, Marisa turns her flying broomstick around, and proceeds to make a beeline for the Mysterious Ruins.

"Marisa, you cheater!" Reimu yells out, then gives chase to the witch. "I am  _still_  going to knock you down!"

Chasing Marisa who is heading for the Mysterious Ruins, Reimu fires danmaku at the witch to get her attention. The danmaku fails to hit Marisa even though she isn't even attempting any evasive maneuvers.

"Eat my dust!" Marisa taunts as she notices the shots. She fires back at Reimu without slowing down her approach to the Ruins.

Reimu dodges those danmaku, and was about to return fire when she notices that Marisa is getting very close to the Mysterious Ruins, and the witch is actually flying faster than she is. At this rate, Marisa might actually 'win' the final round of the 'duel'...

So instead of firing more danmaku or throwing more Ofuda at Marisa, Reimu decided to instead bring forth the Ying-Yang Orb.

"No, Marisa,  _you_  eat  _this_  instead!" The shrine maiden trainee shouts at Marisa before launching the Ying-Yang Orb at her.

Marisa notices the Ying-Yang Orb coming straight towards her very fast. "Oh jeez! Not this one again!" She exclaimed.

Marisa tries to pull up, but the Ying-Yang Orb reached her before she could do it completely. The Ying-Yang Orb knocked the witch off her flying broomstick, sending her plowing straight into the ground, which she continued sliding on her face for a few more seconds before coming to a halt. Marisa's broom crash-lands next to her, but remained surprisingly intact.

Reimu gently lands in front of Marisa. "Anything else to say, Marisa?"

Marisa slowly picks herself up from the ground, and then rubs her broken nose which appears to be bleeding slightly. "Yeah, about that white flag...I need it..." She said, her pronunciation a bit slurred due to her broken nose. The witch then appears to apply some kind of healing spell to her nose, which stopped bleeding after she is done in a few seconds. "I also need a freakin' drink!"

...

**?-?-?**

"And I think we have our final winner." Chiyuri points out on the fact that Reimu has effectively won the entire series of duels.

"Oh yes~" Yumemi seems to be giggling excitingly. "This is the Holy Grail of my research, and its right in my doorstep now~"

Chiyuri found Yumemi's giggling a bit unsettling. "Uh, professor? You're giving me the creeps..."

Luckily for the assistant, the professor comes to her senses almost immediately. "Right. It may be in my doorstep, but it's still far from my grasp." Yumemi takes a sip from the bottle of strawberry milkshake. "Now then, time for the final step of the plan: let's give these girls a warm welcome into this ship!"

* * *

"Well, Winters. About time you posted this chapter!"

That's me berating myself, and what some of you might be saying to me as well.

Marisa comes up with the duels, but decides to say "Screw it!" when its her turn. That's Marisa for you...

Anyways, with the duels all over now, there is only Chiyuri and Yumemi left before the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc concludes, and then we move on to the  _Lotus Land Story_  arc. Stay tuned for more of Reimu's (mis)adventures in Gensokyo!"

By the way, it won't be just Reimu who's going into the Probability Hyperspace Vessel. Everyone will be. So how will they confront Chiyuri and Yumemi, you ask? That's a question left for the next chapter, so read on.

Also, Marisa's middle name being Genevieve is  **NOT**  my idea. Someone else came up with it a long time ago, and even though I don't remember who did, I'm still going to give him credit for this idea.

In addition, the "Fey and Rey" that Mima mentioned up there are the names of two of Marisa's witch friends, last seen in the chapters " _Story of Eastern Wonderland_ " and " _A Fluffy Girl and Her Bad Kitten_ ". Actually, I plan on giving all the notable extras names, just so we have something to call them by instead of "The girl with that feature" or "Those girls who follow X".

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here..._


	45. Into The Mysterious Ruins

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

After the end of their duel, and the series of duels in general, Reimu and Marisa are soon joined by Ellen, Kana, Kotohime and Rikako at the Mysterious Ruins.

"So, the question now is..." Marisa asks Reimu. "How're ya gonna get in and see what's inside?"

Reimu glances at Marisa, then at Ellen, Kana, Kotohime and Rikako, before correcting, "No, Marisa. The real question is: How are  _we_  going to get inside and explore it?"

"'We'?" Marisa took note of the shrine maiden trainee's wording.

"You're letting us explore the Ruins together with you?" Kotohime wonders. "Even though we all lost to you in the duels?"

Ellen puts a finger to her chin. "Hannah used to say 'Sharing is caring'..." She said. Socrates, who is lying on her right shoulder, meowed immediately after the fluffy-headed girl's statement, though it might have just been the cat yawning.

"I don't understand your intention." Kana says.

Rikako was in the middle of writing something in a small booklet (her journal; perhaps to conclude her trip to the Ruins after losing to Reimu) when Reimu's statement made her stop. "What benefits will you earn from...sharing your...spoils?"

Reimu begins poking around the walls and floor of the Mysterious Ruins with her gohei. "I figure that if either one of you win, you're going to claim the rights to explore this place for yourself." She answers.

The shrine maiden trainee's answer left everyone stunned and silent, except for Ellen who maintains her absent-minded smile.

"So lets get back to the question..." Marisa breaks the silence. "How're we gonna find a way in? Ain't got nothin' that looks like an entry..."

...

**?-?-?**

"Okay, Chiyuri, it is now time for the main event. Let's open the front door and invite all of them into the party~" Yumemi gives Chiyuri a command.

"As you say, professor." Chiyuri acknowledges the command, and taps on a panel of light, which seem to do something. "Aaand done."

"Good." Yumemi says. The professor then turns toward someone else who had suddenly appeared by her side. "And Ruukoto? Set up the equipment, and prepare to record on my mark~"

This person, or rather, a  _construct_  that resembles a person with light green hair and wears a light blue dress, nodded in acknowledgement to the command.  _"Command confirmed, Professor Okazaki."_  She(?) says, with a voice that possesses a definitely unnatural undertone.

...

**Outside Mysterious Ruins**

Just as the girls are looking for a way into the Mysterious Ruins, something happened.

A loud hissing sound is heard, then followed by what was thought to be a smooth stone wall opening to reveal an entrance to the Ruins. The inside of the Ruins appears to be pitch black.

Reimu and Marisa both approached the entrance, but stopped short of actually going through it. Then they both took a peek inside.

"It's so dark in here..." Reimu remarks.

"Yeah. I can't see shi- _I mean_ , does anyone have a way of lightin' the place up?" Marisa paused, swapping out her words at the last second and then asks everyone present.

Kotohime, however, reacted to Marisa's last second word swap. " _Watch_  your language,  _witch_." She said to the witch with a glare.

Then it is Rikako's turn to glare at the self-proclaimed police constable. "You too,  _officer_." She says, putting sarcastic emphasis on the word "officer".That being said, the magician-turned-scientist then produces a small cylinder that has light shining out of one hand. "In case you are wondering, this device is called a torchlight."

"It doesn't look very efficient..." Marisa remarks, pointing out that Rikako's light-emitting device isn't very bright. The witch then whips out her magic wand. "This is more efficient." She says. Then with a wave, the magic wand began to shine brightly. "It ain't flashy, but at least it works."

Ellen raises a finger. "Oh, I can do that too~!" With that said, the fluffy-headed girl proceeds to conjure a mid-sized ball of light from her held-out left hand. It was even brighter than Marisa's wand. "There~" She said cheerily.

Not wanting to be beat out, Reimu attempts to create her own source of light by releasing the Ying-Yang Orb, and have it stop right in mid-air. She succeeds, only to dispel it immediately because it turned out to be even less bright than Rikako's torchlight. The shrine maiden trainee sighed in disbelief. "I've got to do better than that..."

Kotohime produces a gas lamp from her magical bottomless inventory. "I'm guessing this lamp would be nothing compared to everything else here..." The self-proclaimed police constable then puts it away.

After seeing all the attempts to provide a source of light with varying degrees of success and efficiency by everyone save Kana, Marisa looked at the poltergeist, expecting her to do something about it.

Kana shrugs, and shook her head. "I can see just fine in the dark, so I've never thought of a way to create light..."

Marisa rolls her eyes, then turns back toward the entrance to the Mysterious Ruins. "Ah, never mind. Not like we're gonna be lightin' it up like it's Summer night festival..."

With that, the girls slowly marched into the Mysterious Ruins, with whatever light sources they have handy.

...

**Inside Mysterious Ruins(?)**

"Ain't got nothing interestin' 'round 'ere..." Marisa said, while looking around the pitch blackness of the Mysterious Ruins interior with her magic wand as a light source.

Reimu looked around in the pitch blackness of the Ruins' interior. Then she remembered something. "About that message at the beginning..."

Kotohime pulls the message slip from before out of her sleeve. "'Only the worthy may enter'" She reads it out loud (with Rikako shining her torchlight at it). "That is what it sai..."

That's when the self-proclaimed police constable, and everyone else present save for Ellen and Socrates, suddenly realized something.

"Wait a minute..." Marisa is the first to raise a point. "What's their  _definition_  of 'worthy', anyway?"

Kana raises another point. "We all are able to enter, even though only one of us won...worthy, by definition of the term..."

Rikako snatches the message slip from Kotohime. Then she runs a thumb through the writings with a bit of pressure applied.

The writings distorted, trailing what looked like ink in the direction Rikako ran her thumb through. Her thumb is also slightly smeared with the same substance.

Everyone (save Ellen) rolled their eyes as they saw the smearing.

"Chemical ink. The type used in printing machines. It isn't even fully dry yet..." Rikako deducted. "This message is written in paper, and a very recent type as well..."

Ellen still doesn't get what everyone are discussing. "Is something wrong? Maybe I can fix it with my spells~"

Marisa glanced over her shoulders, then looks back at the message slip. "So, y'all are tellin' me that someone else was 'ere  _before_ us,  _recently_?"

Reimu is about to say something, but paused in the middle of opening her mouth as she hears what sound like a series of footsteps from within the darkness. "No. They got here before us, and are..."

"...Still here!" A voice answered as lights suddenly lit up all over the Ruins interior.

Everyone, Ellen included this time, are caught by surprise by the Ruins suddenly being lit up. And now that the place is lit up, everyone can see that it is  _not_  a ruin at all.

In fact, it is more like the interior of an industrial building, complete with various mechanical devices all over and metal walkways suspended above the ground. The only difference it has compared to an industrial building is that none of the mechanical devices appear to be for industrial purposes.

Standing on top of one of the many walkways is a young woman who looks to be 18 years old.

Everyone present turned toward the young woman. Kotohime has her long gun drawn out and aimed at the woman.

"Who the heck are you?" Marisa shoots a question at the young woman. "And what the heck is this place?"

The young woman points at herself in a proud way. "Me? I'm Okazaki Yumemi, the smartest person in the world! Well,  _my_  world, at least!" She introduces herself. She then points directly at the floor below her. "And this is my ship! I call it the  _Fantasy Legend_!"

Everyone, sans Ellen again, stares at Yumemi with a bit of scrutiny.

Yumemi notices the scrutiny that the girls are giving her. "That was a bit too much from me, wasn't it?" She awkwardly asks.

Reimu is the first to step forward. "So I take it that you're the one who drew us here with that beam of light, then dropped that message right in our face so as to get us to prove our worthiness?"

Marisa follows. "Although you ain't said nothing 'bout  _how_  we're supposed to prove ourselves worthy." She says to Yumemi, while pointing a finger at her.

Kotohime snatches the message slip back from Rikako, and shows it to Yumemi. "Yeah, like Marisa said. 'Only the worthy may enter', it says.  _Nowhere_  does it state how one is worthy for...whatever you have in mind for us."

"The three of them do have a point." Rikako chimes in. "For supposedly the smartest person in  _your world_ , that was a major oversight on your part..."

"I...actually agree with them." Kana says, with nothing else on her mind at the moment.

Yumemi takes a step back on the walkway, feeling more embarrassment than awkwardness now. "Well, I suppose that is because I'm a theoretical physicist, not a wish-granting wizard." She stayed back for just a few seconds before stepping forward again. "But anyway..."

While the girls are confused as to what the words "theoretical physicist" meant, the professor suddenly turns to look Marisa straight in her eye (the one that isn't covered by her hair, anyway).

Then Yumemi said, "That was kind of an odd name for you. Isn't it,  _Marisa Genevieve Kirisame_? Three different languages in one name?"

"Well, ya gotta ask my ma 'bout tha..." Marisa answers, but stops mid-sentence upon realizing something. "Wait a minute. How the heck did ya know  _my name_?"

Reimu steps forward, gohei pointing at Yumemi. "She's right! None of us have referred to one another by our names at any point since stepping into this...place!"

Yumemi casually jumps off the walkway, and then lands on the floor on her feet. "The answer is simple. I've been observing all of you since you came here attracted by my beacon...or the Pillar of Light as you girls called it..." She said as she gets up.

The professor first points at Reimu. "You're Hakurei Reimu, a Shinto shrine maiden still in training." Then she points at Marisa. "You're Marisa Genevieve Kirisame, a witch taking lesson from...someone you call Mima?"

Reimu practically froze in place, with her mouth agape.

Yumemi then looks at Ellen. "Fluffy Ellen. That's a cute nickname you have there."

Ellen isn't surprised one bit (maybe it's due to her being an airhead). "Oh, thank you! My grandfather gave me that nickname!" She says cheerily.

Yumemi turns to address Kotohime. "Constable Kotohime, maybe they put you off duty because they can't stand your...craziness..."

Kotohime felt so surprised, she instinctively fired a shot from her long gun at the professor...

...Who nonchalantly blocks it by holding out a much more advanced-looking gun in front of the bullet's trajectory.

"You also need something better than a Winchester Lever-Action Rifle." Yumemi resumed her addressing the self-proclaimed police constable. "That thing is outdated by more than a century in my world."

The professor turns toward Rikako.

"How did you know about us?" Rikako asks a question before Yumemi can say something.

"Simple." Yumemi answers. Then with a snap of her fingers, several dozen panels of light popped into existence all over the place.

Each of those panels of light are showing fairy-hunting game and the series of duels the girls have had prior to all this.

"I've been watching you all, seeing which one of you would be the most suitable for my work." Yumemi proclaims while all the girls are staring at the panels of light in amazement.

Rikako only looked at a panel of light that depicted her duel against Reimu, before she turns toward Yumemi. "Work...You were going to use one of us for your research?"

"Correct! Ten points for Asakura Rikako!" Yumemi loudly replies. "At first, at least." She added at a lower volume. "I originally was going to grab just the winner of the matches - in this case, Reimu here - so I can prove to those academic thickheads from my world that magic really exists!"

Reimu rolled her eyes as she hears that. "You were going to  _kidnap_  me?!"

"More like 'invite for a day trip'. I plan on bringing you back here after I'm done!" Yumemi says with no second thoughts. "Anyways, now I have a change of plans after seeing all of you here..." The professor adds with a smile, before looking aside and seemingly nodding in a commanding manner to someone.

"Oh! You're going to throw a party?" Ellen, not getting the context at all, asked happily. Socrates, however, seems to get the context, seeing that he appears to be all tensed up and staring at Yumemi with hostility, even hissing at the meantime.

Marisa, noticing how Socrates is behaving, nudged Ellen with her elbow. "Nope. I think she's gonna kidnap..." She corrects the fluffy-headed girl.

But before the witch can finish her sentence, a tiny tube of some kind suddenly appeared and attached itself to Ellen's forehead, giving her an electrical shock which quickly knocks out both her and her cat. Ellen immediately collapses onto the floor afterwards, still hugging Socrates in her arms.

Reimu, Marisa, Kana, Kotohime and Rikako are all surprised by what had just happened.

"...All of us..." Marisa finishes her sentence with a stutter.

Everyone turned toward where Yumemi is looking. There stood a girl who looked to be 15, pointing a smaller but also advanced-looking gun at where Ellen was standing at moments before.

"Thank you, Chiyuri~" Yumemi said to the girl.

"Happy to oblige." The girl, Chiyuri, said.

Yumemi then turns back toward Reimu and the others. "Now then, you girls can either do this the easy way, which is you all coming with me to my world, and be living proof that magic exists, wherein you'll all become world-class famous overnight..."

The professor paused, then with another snap of her fingers, five glass containers suddenly materialized from the floor, with one forming around the unconscious Ellen.

"Or you can do this the hard way, which is me putting you in these impenetrable cages that are made of a very strong self-repairing glass before I haul you all to my fellow scientists by force." Yumemi, pointing her advanced-looking gun at the girls, resumes in a threatening way, with a wicked-looking grin on her face.

"You girls better listen to the professor~" Chiyuri adds to Yumemi's speech.

* * *

And so, Reimu and the others enter the Mysterious Ruins, which is revealed to be a spaceship captained by one Professor Okazaki Yumemi, who wants to kidnap the girls and present them to the Outside World's international science community as living proof that magic exists.

There's no questioning that Reimu will be fighting Chiyuri and Yumemi. The question is: what will happen between this chapter and those fights. Stay tuned for the climax of the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc!

As for the appearances of Yumemi and Chiyuri's guns, I can only say that the former's looks like a more futuristic version of the FN P90 submachine gun, whereas the latter's is basically a handgun that fires Taser darts. The exact details are whatever you imagine them to be.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	46. An Irrefutable Offer, Refused

**The _Fantasy Legend_ 's Corridor**

The moment is tense as Reimu, Marisa, Kana, Kotohime and Rikako prepares themselves for whatever Yumemi and Chiyuri have planned for them.

"So lemme get this straight..." Marisa attempts to summarize what Yumemi has just said. "Ya gonna put us in these...big freakin' glass jars...and then take us back to your world...for the sake of research?"

It was Chiyuri who answered. "Sort of..."

The girls looked at each other, before seemingly agreeing on something without uttering a single word.

"Do we have an option where we get to stay where we are, and you go back to where you come from?" Reimu asked. She then cringes about how stupid that question sounds.

"Not an option~" Yumemi answers.

The girls look at each other again.

"Or how about one where we..." Marisa says. She then draws out her magic wand suddenly, and points it at Yumemi's direction. "...KICK YOUR BEHIND!" The witch then fires off a spell at Yumemi.

Yumemi nonchalantly dodges the spell by stepping to the side. The spell continued on its trajectory before it hits a glowing pillar and explodes in a shower of sticky goo without doing any physical damage.

The professor slowly turns back toward Marisa to see her (and the other girls') jaw drop.

"That was a bad choice." Yumemi says, as she raises the advanced-looking gun she held in her left hand. "So, may Lord have mercy on your souls~"

Reimu, not wanting to give Yumemi any chance to act first, charged forward with her gohei raised. She brought her weapon upon Yumemi's head...

...Which the professor simply catches it with her right hand.

Or rather, a hand-shaped metallic contraption that covered part of her right hand.

"Nice  _haraegushi_..." Yumemi takes the opportunity to mock Reimu. "Too bad Shinto isn't my religion~"

Yumemi proceeds to shove Reimu's gohei-wielding hand away, before punching the shrine maiden trainee in her abdomen with enough force to send her flying uncontrollably toward one of the glass containers, which then seals shut on its own.

Marisa gulped hard as she sees how swiftly Reimu was beaten by Yumemi. "I have a bad feelin' 'bout this..."

Yumemi then aims her advanced-looking gun at the remaining girls. With a pull of the trigger, she fires a loud volley that scatters them into multiple direction.

Kotohime dodged the initial volley by sliding below the (real) bullets. The self-proclaimed police constable then fires several shots from her long gun at Yumemi as she is sliding toward her.

Yumemi deflects all those shots with quick reflexes and her metal gauntlet. Then with the same gauntlet-wearing hand, the professor grabs Kotohime by the collar, and proceeds to smash her across the floor at the same rate as a swinging pendulum several times before throwing and sealing her into another glass container.

Next to take on Yumemi is Kana. The poltergeist simply popped out of thin air behind the professor, metal sign in hand, and poised to deliver the knockout blow. However, Yumemi noticed the sneak attack without even turning around, and dodges the attack by jumping high into the air.

"Chiyuri!" Yumemi called out to her assistant mid-jump.

"I got your back, professor!" Chiyuri responds as she fires her advanced pistol at Kana...only for the non-magical projectile to go right through the poltergeist with no harm done. "Oops, wrong gun!" Chiyuri said awkwardly. She then holsters her current gun and pulls out a gun that has a needle where the gun barrel should be. With that gun, the assistant fires a beam at Kana.

Kana notices the beam, and attempts to deflect it with her ability. But as the beam is not physical, it didn't work, and it hits the poltergeist right in her face, causing her to reel back.

Upon landing on the floor on her two feet, Yumemi snapped her fingers, causing a glass container to materialize around Kana. Kana attempts to get out by phasing through the glass container, but for some reason it isn't working.

And then it was Rikako's turn. Rikako's fight against Yumemi was a short-lived one: she ran out of gears to throw very quickly, and is quickly defeated when Yumemi catches the last gear and throws it back hard enough to both break Rikako's glasses and disorient her via a hit to her nose. After that, another glass container materializes around the magician-turned-scientist while she is vulnerable.

"Now who do we have left~?" Yumemi chirps as she waves her right hand, sending the glass containers holding Kana and Rikako to line up with the ones holding Reimu, Ellen and Kotohime.

The professor gets her answer in the form of a burst of danmaku from behind her. Due to bad accuracy, none of those danmaku hits her.

"I ain't gonna let myself be researched on!" Says Marisa, as she charges toward Yumemi while riding on her flying broom.

"Oh, right! The witch!" Yumemi says, then fires her advanced gun at Marisa.

Marisa evade the bullets by performing a barrel roll, then continues her charge without slowing down. "I'm gonna knock ya down!" She delivers a statement loudly.

Unfortunately for the witch, she didn't get to make true of that statement. Yumemi grabs the flying broomstick with her gauntlet-wearing right hand - with Marisa still on it, so the momentum sent her flying right off her broom uncontrollably, and straight into the last empty glass container. "Darnit!" She exclaims as she stands up inside her prison.

"Nice broomstick, but a jetpack is slicker..." Yumemi says as she examines the flying broomstick, before casually tossing it over her shoulder. She then turns toward Chiyuri. "Alright, that's all of them!" The professor says excitedly. "Ruukoto, stop recording and save all the data!"

 _"Ending recording. Saving data."_  A strange voice answered from somewhere in the corridor.

Yumemi then turns toward her assistant. "Chiyuri, fire up the Probability Engine! We are going home!"

"Then winning a Nobel Prize?" Chiyuri asked.

"And then I'll say to those academic thickheads: take that!" Yumemi proudly adds.

Meanwhile, the girls captured are struggling to break themselves out of the prison they were put in.

Reimu tried to break her glass container by firing danmaku several times at the glass, then striking it several times with her gohei, and then throwing Ofuda at it. The last one only spawned a tiny crack in the glass, which quickly faded away as it repairs itself.

Kana attempted to use her ability to forcefully tear her glass container apart. But eventually, she strains herself so much she collapses in exhaustion, and gives up.

Kotohime fired her long gun at the exact same spot on the glass container multiple times in quick succession, at point-blank range. While she does manage to spawn a large crack with each shot, the glass repairs itself faster than she can fire her long gun. The self-proclaimed police constable then contemplates using a stick of dynamite, but on realizing that it definitely isn't a good idea to use one in such an enclosed space, she kneels over and gives up.

Rikako, after seeing those three failed attempts, doesn't even bother to try. She just sits in the middle of her glass container. "I came searching for fame, but it is not the fame I hoped..." She laments.

Marisa, however, has been struggling non-stop to break out for the past minutes. "That's it! Time to bring out the big spells!" Saying that, she then pulls out her magic wand and points it at the glass container. "EXPLODE!" The witch casts a powerful spell, only for it to backfire as the wand itself explodes instead of the glass container. "I oughtta listen to Miss Mima's lectures more carefully next time..." Marisa, with messy hair and a face full of soot, remarks before collapsing into a heap.

Yumemi notices the girls' futile attempts, and giggles about them. "Don't worry. I'm giving you girls a shot each at becoming famous people in my world~"

"And also live a luxurious life in a 22nd century city instead of a 19th century village~" Chiyuri adds as she walks pass the glass containers. "So, what'd you say?" She directs a question at the girls.

* * *

Finally, I got this chapter finished up.

This chapter got delayed for nearly an entire month because I am 12 days into a 19 days vacation in China (26th of December as of now), and was very busy with the final week of college in the week before. And after this chapter, don't expect me to be back until after New Years. You can blame my dad for coming up with a 19 days vacation in China.

Anyways, with Reimu and company captured by Yumemi to be researched on, how will they get themselves out of this dark hour? Tune in to the next chapter to find out!

And before I end this chapter, I would like to say: Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! May you begin 2018 on a happy note!

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	47. Heroic Second Wind

**The _Fantasy Legend_ 's Corridor**

"So, what'd you say?" Chiyuri's words echoed in Reimu's mind.

The shrine maiden trainee thought of what might happen if she were brought to Yumemi's world as a subject to be researched on, and the consequences faced by a Gensokyo without a Hakurei shrine maiden.

Both thoughts are very unpleasant for Reimu, and being imprisoned at the moment also made her angry.

Putting her attention away from Reimu, Chiyuri waved her left hand to make a panel of light appear in front of her. After a few taps on the panel, the entire corridor of the ship shook a bit and hummed moderately. "Engines are firing up. We'll be back home in..." She announces to Yumemi.

But before the professor's assistant can finish her announcement, she was spooked by the sudden sound of glass loudly cracking but not shattering.

That sound was caused by Reimu, using her Ying-Yang Orb, currently glowing brightly and brimming with power, as a battering ram, as she tries again to break out of her glass cage.

"Uh, professor..." Chiyuri takes a step back for each hit Reimu does on the glass cage. "Heroic second wind here..."

"I know!" Yumemi acknowledges as she looks at the shrine maiden trainee. The professor then summons a panel of light in front of her. "Glass cage integrity at 61.6% and dropping! 52%! 44.4%! She's breaking the Nano-Glass faster than it can repair itself! Get ready, Chiyuri, this is  _going_  to get nasty..." As Yumemi finishes, she gets her advanced gun ready and clenches her gauntlet-wearing right hand.

Chiyuri aims both her beam gun and advanced pistol at Reimu in anticipation of the latter breaking out, but quickly puts both guns down as she realizes something. "Wait, she can fly. I'm going to need my jetpack." The assistant reminds herself.

That being said, a girl with light green hair, and wears a light blue dress and white apron walked up to Chiyuri while holding a rocket backpack that appears much sleeker and more advanced than Rikako's.  _"Your jetpack, Miss Kitashirakawa~"_  She said, with the same strange voice that acknowledged Yumemi's command earlier.

"Thanks, Ruukoto." Chiyuri says as she takes the rocket backpack. "Oh, and you might want to..."

Before the assistant can finish her sentence, Reimu had successfully smashed through her glass cage, and quickly jumps out of the hole before the glass cage could close it up. The first thing Reimu does upon breaking out is to throw her Ying-Yang Orb at Chiyuri.

Chiyuri notices the Orb in time, and dodges it by leaning out of its trajectory. "...Get out of here?" She finishes her sentence to Ruukoto, then gets hit on the side of her head by the Ying-Yang Orb returning.

 _"It is my pleasure to serve you, Miss Kitashirakawa~"_  Ruukoto, not quite feeling threatened by Reimu's attack for some reason, chirped before moving away.

Chiyuri gets up from the floor while massaging the side of her head that got hit. "Ouch." She then notices Reimu walking up to her, gohei in hand and with an expression that looked like she wants to beat someone up. "Eh heh heh... about that offer just now..."

"My answer is still a big no~" Reimu shows a very creepy smirk. "And since you two are humans, that means exorcising you won't work. Which means I am going to have to beat you two the physical way..." The shrine maiden trainee says, then proceeds to swing her gohei at Chiyuri.

"Ack!" Chiyuri yelped. The assistant quickly activates her rocket backpack, flying out of the way of Reimu's incoming attack.

Reimu then takes off into the air, and chases after Chiyuri, firing danmaku at her.

...

"Ruukoto..." Yumemi says as she watches Reimu and Chiyuri duking out from a safe distance.

Ruukoto appears next to the professor.  _"Yes, Professor Okazaki?"_

"Start recording again." Yumemi orders with a smirk.

 _"Yes, professor. Beginning new recording session."_  Ruukoto acknowledges the order.

The professor seemed to laugh softly after that. "Praise the Lord, for I, Okazaki Yumemi, has just been shown the path to the Holy Grail..." She chants, while still keeping an eye on the fight occurring before her.

...

Chiyuri's sleeker and more advanced rocket backpack performed much better than Rikako's shoddy home-made one in that the former is much faster and capable of acrobatic flight patterns. Not to mention the person wearing it probably has more experience with such devices.

That being said, shooting at a flying target while  _also_  trying to get away from said target probably isn't Chiyuri's forte, as the assistant has so far missed nearly every shot she fired at Reimu. The ones that didn't miss were instead deflected away by the shrine maiden trainee using her gohei.

When Chiyuri attempts to shoot Reimu with the advanced pistol, it only produced a clicking sound - an indication that it has no electric darts left. "Damn it!" She throws the pistol away in frustration, and switches to the beam gun.

Reimu then sends three Ofuda toward Chiyuri, who struggles to avoid getting hit by the magical homing projectiles.

"Ack! Strips of paper that act like seeker missiles!" Chiyuri exclaims as she barely manages to avoid coming in contact with one of the Ofuda. She then neutralizes them by flying at a wall or the floor and then pulling out at the last second. "Not something you can make without magic!" Chiyuri says, then fires her beam gun at Reimu.

Reimu dodges the beam, then returns fire with a barrage of danmaku.

Chiyuri panicked upon seeing such a large amount of danmaku coming toward her. "Whoa whoa whoa! Only a Gatling can match this in bullet count!" The assistant exclaims as she attempts to avoid being hit.

However, the danmaku barrage proved too much for an ordinary human like her. After just a few seconds, her rocket backpack suffered critical damage from being pelted by danmaku, and stops working altogether.

"God da..." Chiyuri could only swear under her breath before the rest of Reimu's danmaku barrage closes in...

...

Despite being an ordinary human who isn't wearing any armor over or under her clothes, Chiyuri managed to stay awake and conscious even after being hit by a dozen danmaku, much to the surprise of Reimu (and the girls still stuck in their glass cage as they watched). Falling down to and hitting the ground due to not having a working rocket backpack, however, did knock her out cold, even though a fall from that height would normally result in at least minor injuries (for normal humans).

Reimu then lands next to the unconscious Chiyuri, and proceeds to kick dust (or rather, act like so, due to there being no dust on the metallic floor) into her face. "And this is what you get for kidnapping a Hakurei!"

Reimu then hears what sounded like footsteps on a metallic floor. She turns toward the source of the sound, and sees Yumemi slowly walking toward her. The professor has her advanced gun holstered, but her right hand is still wearing the metal gauntlet.

Yumemi begins clapping her hand softly. "I'm impressed by what you just did...your name's Reimu, right?" She says. "Anyway, Reimu, I'm impressed that you managed to smash through a cage made of one of the strongest materials I'm in possession of. And then you easily defeated my assistant, not that she ever stood a chance against you, as I have calculated."

"Calculated?" Reimu rolls her eyes upon hearing the word.

Reimu's response made Yumemi awkwardly shrug a bit. "Theoretical physics stuff. You won't understand it. Not like you were going to listen anyway, considering that you broke out..."

Reimu summons forth her Ying-Yang Orb, but held off from using it for now. "Of course I am not going to listen. You tried to  _kidnap_  me!"

Yumemi then un-holsters her advanced gun, and points it at Reimu's direction. "Well then, I guess there is no need to argue with you anymore." She remarks.

Almost immediately after the professor finishes her remark, something flew out from nowhere and attached itself to her back. Or rather, it attached to some kind of harness she is wearing. The object turns out to be a rocket backpack that looks even more advanced than Chiyuri's.

"May the Lord bless whoever He finds worthy of a victory..."

* * *

And that there is Reimu vs Chiyuri.

Don't get me wrong, but Chiyuri don't look like the kind that can give Reimu any challenges, what's with her only weapon being a witty laser gun, and her performance as an AI opponent in  _PoDD_  honestly isn't useful as a power level indicator for her (or anyone else for that matters). Hence Chiyuri going down so quickly.

Yumemi, on the other hand, might be able to use her Stephen Hawking-level intellect (plus some nice gadgets to make Iron Man green with envy) to make herself quite a challenging opponent for Reimu...

The delay of this chapter is entirely Writer's Block due to recovering from the tiredness caused by my 3 weeks China vacation that led to the previous chapter's delay. But its still entirely my fault. Sorry for the delay.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	48. Strawberry Crisis!

**The _Fantasy Legend_ 's Corridor**

Chiyuri begins to stir after spending who knows how long out cold after losing a fight against Reimu.

"Ugh...That shrine maiden girl. Goddamn her heroic second wind..." The assistant cursed under her breath.

"'Ey, ya there!" Chiyuri hears someone calling out to her.

Chiyuri turns toward the direction of the sound, and sees that it was Marisa, still covered in soot from her failed attempt at magically exploding her glass cage.

"Head still hurt from Reimu's beatin'?" Marisa asked as she knocks on her side of the glass cage to grab Chiyuri's attention. The witch's barely hidden giggle suggests that she was actually mocking the assistant. "Oh, and by the way, Reimu's gone brawlin' with your boss."

Before Chiyuri could fully register what she was told, she ended up having to literally roll herself to safety when a smashed metal walkway came crashing down.

That metal walkway collapsed due to Reimu and Yumemi exchanging fires with each other, where the walkway just happened to be caught in the crossfire. Most of the surrounding machines and whatever there is also took hits, but weathered said hits surprisingly well, with a delicate-looking machine still in working order. From the looks of things, the fight has been going on for quite a while, and neither side appears to have the advantage.

"She's quite good at it, actually." Marisa tells Chiyuri, as she glances at the fight up above, then back at the assistant. "An ordinary human from the Outside World, holdin' her own against a Hakurei. Not somethin' anyone's gonna believe without seein' it for themselves..."

"Why are you saying that to a villain, Marisa Kirisame?" Kotohime interrupted from her glass cage. "If I could shoot through this glass, I would've blown your brains out for saying that."

"She was just exaggerating. Not unusual for her to say that." Rikako reassures to no one in particular.

Chiyuri rolled her eyes as she hears what everyone just said. "You guys seem pretty calm despite being...Uh, prisoners?"

Marisa wipes soot off her face. "Gensokyo can be pretty scary sometimes. We're all used to bein' in situations like this." The witch sat down and leaned against the glass wall of her cage, letting her long blond hair cover half of her face. "So, just chill down, 'cause this is gonna end, one way or 'nother..."

...

Despite being a Mundane human with no superpowers whatsoever, Yumemi easily proved herself to be a difficult opponent for Reimu to deal with. In fact, the shrine maiden trainee would've rated the professor to be far more difficult than even Sariel and Mima, and it all boils down to how Yumemi fights, rather than how powerful she is.

On top of that, Yumemi is also pretty agile. Reimu has already used up her supply of Ofuda and fired off a dozen barrages of danmaku, yet not one of them even came close to hitting the professor.

"Maybe you need more training after all, Reimu~" Yumemi mocks, then aims and fires her advanced gun at Reimu.

As Yumemi's shots don't glow at all, unlike the danmaku used by everyone else, Reimu had trouble tracking and dodging them. At one point, the shrine maiden trainee even had to take cover behind a large piece of machinery to avoid being filled with bullet holes.

"I could give you a wealthy life, so why are you resisting~?" Yumemi says as she slowly approaches the machinery Reimu took cover behind.

As Yumemi got close to the machinery, Reimu suddenly jumped out from behind it and attempted to swing her gohei at the professor, who caught it with her gauntlet-wearing right hand.

Yumemi found herself struggling to push back, despite the gauntlet letting her exert much more force than a bare human hand can. "For someone as small as you are, you sure have a lot of muscle power." Saying that, she then points her advanced gun at Reimu.

Reimu sees the gun, and quickly broke her position to avoid getting shot at point blank range. Flanking around Yumemi, the shrine maiden trainee then returns fire.

Yumemi serves to the side to dodge the danmaku. Then as the professor attempts to shoot back, the gun produces a click instead of firing a bullet.

Reimu took this as an opportunity to fire more danmaku at Yumemi, which the professor dodges by launching herself upwards.

While dodging more of Reimu's danmaku, Yumemi can be seen ejecting a rectangular piece from the advanced gun, then inserting an identical-looking rectangular piece into the slot that the previous one was attached to. As soon as she finishes doing that, she resumes firing the advanced gun at Reimu.

Reimu dives downward to dodge Yumemi's sudden return fire. The shrine maiden trainee then retaliates by launching the Ying-Yang Orb at the professor.

Yumemi attempts to deflect the Ying-Yang Orb by punching it aside with her gauntlet-wearing right hand. However, she had underestimated just how strong it is. While she does manage to land the punch on it, the Ying-Yang Orb basically ignored the powered punch and pushed on, sending Yumemi stumbling back a short distance.

"Right, as if punching the equivalent of a rocket-propelled wrecking ball would work. Nice going there, me..." Yumemi berates herself for trying that.

The professor's brief moment of stumbling is enough for Reimu to close the distance - catching her unaware this time - and kick her right in the chest.

The kick launched Yumemi backwards, straight into a metal walkway and deforming its handrails as a result of the impact. The impact also caused Yumemi to lose grip of her advanced gun and drop it, as well as causing a noticeable dent in her rocket backpack, causing the rockets to fizzle out.

Yumemi tries to shoot back, and only then did she notices that she had dropped her gun, leaving her left hand completely bare. "Jesus...!" She cursed under her breath. Reigniting the rockets on her rocket backpack, the professor dislodges herself from the deformed walkway handrail just in time to avoid getting hit by Reimu's danmaku barrage.

Yumemi quickly locates her advanced gun at the bottom of the corridor, and dives for it.

Reimu also noticed Yumemi attempting to reach for her advanced gun. "Don't even think about it!" She said as she launches the Ying-Yang Orb again.

Yumemi notices the Ying-Yang Orb coming toward her from behind, and attempts to move out of the way. But the professor fails to dodge it completely, as the Orb clips one of the multiple rockets on her rocket backpack and breaks it. With one rocket knocked out of commission, Yumemi could no longer fly in a controlled manner, as the malfunctioning rocket backpack sends her crashing into the metallic floor face first.

Hitting the floor face-first did not knock out Yumemi, but the professor is left with barely enough stamina to crawl toward her advanced gun and grab it, just as Reimu lands not too far behind her.

In a last ditch attempt to defeat Reimu, Yumemi raises her advanced gun with what stamina she has left, and points it at the shrine maiden trainee. She then pulls the trigger...

...Only to get a clicking sound instead.

Frantic, Yumemi detaches the same rectangular piece she replaced earlier, and looks down a slit on one end. She frowned upon seeing that it is empty. Sighing in disbelief, she lets go of both the rectangular piece and the advanced gun, sending them clattering against the metallic floor. "I guess the Lord has decided that I am not worthy of a victory." She sighs. "I need a pint of strawberry milkshake..."

Reimu doesn't quite understand what Yumemi just said. But she knows  _why_  it was said, and smiled. "So, does this mean I win?"

Yumemi doesn't even bother to protest, as she just lies in the middle of the floor among the various debris scattered around by the fight. "More or less. I'm just a punching bag without all my fancy gadgets..." She sighs. "You're free to go, and so are your friends, as a compensation for what you've just went through."

Reimu crosses her arms. "What about your research? Weren't you going to present us all to...your world?"

Yumemi remained silent for a few seconds. Then she laughed softly. "Forget that. I bit off more than I can chew the very second I stepped into Gensokyo." The professor then gets up from the floor. "I suppose you guys are content with the lives you are living right now..." She briefly glances at Kana, who is still trapped in her glass cage. "...Although 'life' might be wrong for one of you. Either way, you all can go now..."

That being said, the glass cages containing Marisa, Ellen, Kana, Kotohime and Rikako deconstructed themselves, letting their occupants out.

"Well, 'bout time!" Marisa gleefully announces as she steps out of where her glass cage had been. "First things first: Where the heck's my broom?"

"Birds on a chimney!" Ellen exclaimed upon waking up (she was unconscious the entire time Reimu fought Chiyuri and Yumemi). "Oh, what did I miss?" The fluffy-headed girl asks as she tries to catch up with the events.

"Looooong story..." Marisa answers straightforwardly.

As Marisa goes searching for her broom, and the rest of the girls ganging up on Chiyuri (beginning with Kotohime putting handcuffs on her), Reimu walks closer to Yumemi...

"Thank you for letting us go. But I was thinking that just that isn't enough compensation~" Reimu says with a grin. "Can we all ask you for something~?"

"Uh, professor, a little help here?" Chiyuri plead as she gets mobbed by Kana, Kotohime and Rikako.

* * *

And here's Reimu vs Yumemi.

What else were you expecting? Although Yumemi - equipped with a high-tech jetpack, a power gauntlet, and a futuristic machine gun - manages to put up a good fight against Reimu, the former is still just an ordinary human with no superpowers whatsoever coming up against someone who can fly on her own and shoot an endless stream of magic laser paint balls as well as possessing a magic-powered wrecking ball. In a realistic situation, Yumemi is going to lose the moment Reimu gains the upper hand.

Now that the fights are done with, I just need to finish up the next chapter, and the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc will be concluded. After that, we can move on to the  _Lotus Land Story_  arc!

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	49. Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream

**Hakurei Shrine**

It has been over a week since Reimu and the others went to the 'ruins' that turned out to be a ship owned by Okazaki Yumemi.

After Reimu defeated Yumemi in a duel, the latter let everyone go, and as compensation (demanded by Reimu) for all the troubles everyone went through, each of the girls who came to her are given something by the professor.

Reimu asked for a helper, and Yumemi obliged by giving Ruukoto to the shrine maiden trainee.

Right now, Reimu sat in front of the donation box at the shrine, sipping tea while Ruukoto swept the courtyard.

"She doesn't look or sound human..." Reimu thought as she watched Ruukoto sweeping the courtyard. "...But I forgot to ask that lady or her assistant the details before they went back to their world..."

The way Chiyuri and Yumemi returned to their world was...something Reimu, or anyone in Gensokyo for that matters, could never understand. After Reimu, Marisa, Ellen, Kana, Kotohime and Rikako got what they wanted from Yumemi and she left, they all saw the 'ruins' slowly hovering off the ground before it disappeared in a loud bang and bright flash, all right before their eyes. After such a display, the site was left completely empty, as though it has always been like that.

Marisa theorized that it could be teleportation, but Reimu wondered if the Outside World's science has found a way to develop teleportation in much the same way it existed in magic form.

Nevertheless, those two women from the other world have gone back to their home world, and they probably won't be back for quite a while, if ever.

"Well, at least we all got something useful out of the trip~" Reimu muses as she takes another sip of her tea.

A gust of wind descended upon the shrine courtyard, blowing apart the pile of leaves that Ruukoto had swept together neatly. That gust turned out to have been caused by Marisa riding on her flying broomstick. The witch still has the long blond hair covering half her face that she got by accident a week ago.

"Yo, Reimu! I've come to play!" Marisa loudly announces as she hops off her broomstick, right on top of the leave pile that she had blown apart just now. "And how ya doin', Green Hair?" The witch turns to address Ruukoto.

 _"Miss Kirisame, I should remind you that my name is Ruukoto."_  says Ruukoto in protest.  _"And I was doing just fine with my work until you disturbed it."_

Marisa cocks her eyebrow. "Still can't get why her voice sounds so...weird..." She then takes off her hat. "Anyway... Boy, am I glad to be free again..." The witch declared.

"What did Mima put you through?" Reimu asked.

Marisa sits down next to Reimu. "Lots and lots of rigorous training. Spell casting, broomstick flying, potions brewing, drawing spell circles...the sorts." She pours herself a cup of tea, and then finishes it in one gulp. "Them all's punishment for bein' beaten by ya. For one week I've been worked to the bone..."

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that." Reimu said, resisting the urge to giggle.

Marisa scoffed at the shrine maiden trainee's reaction. "So next time we're fightin' one 'nother, I'm gonna kick your butt!"

Reimu nonchalantly sips her tea. "I'd like to see you try~" She sets the teacup down. "By the way, Marisa, where are your friends?"

Marisa lies down on the veranda as she thinks of an answer for that question. "Um...Let's say it's a disaster involving frogs and love potions, and I ain't in the mood to discuss it..."

Reimu looks away from Marisa. "I can imagine why..."

Marisa gets up. "That aside, I wonder how's everyone doin' with their prizes?" She says as she looks at a small rocket with a smiley face that is tied to the tip of her broomstick. "Lil' Mimi, huh? What a weird name..."

"Why did you ask for that strange looking thing, anyway?"

The true story is that Marisa asked Yumemi for a very powerful weapon, and so the professor gave her this thing, a 'guided missile' that she nicknamed Lil' Mimi. However, Marisa did not ask for the instructions to using the weapon that she have no idea how to use, so the witch ended up using Lil' Mimi as a decorative piece for her broomstick instead.

Reimu and Marisa then notices a familiar white cat strolling past the Torii gate, followed by his fluffy-headed owner behind.

Ellen "Fluffy-head" Aureus appears to be holding what looked like those devices from the village called dial phones in one hand, and the other hand holding the part where someone speaks into one end and gets a response from the other.

"Oh, Hannah, I'd be nice if you could come visit my shop sometimes. I might have something you need~" Ellen seems to be speaking to someone through the dial phone. "You  _cannae_  come because you have work to do? Oh, how sad..."

"She's talkin' to a friend from far away?" Marisa wonders out loud.

"Maybe much further, outside Gensokyo?" Reimu also wonders.

Ellen stopped at the middle of the courtyard, still talking to her friend through the dial phone. "Oh! Maybe I can send a gift to you~" The fluffy-headed girl says cheerfully. "Do you want a painting? Or a book? Perhaps something for your magpie?" Ellen stopped speaking abruptly for a few seconds, apparently having been interrupted by her friend. "Just the fact that I'm living happily? Oh, thank you, Hannah~" Ellen giggled. "I hope I can see you again soon~"

With that, Ellen ends the communication by putting the speaking part of the dial phone back on the main part of the device, or 'hang up the phone' as the villagers would say.

"Friend of yours?" Marisa asked Ellen out of curiosity.

Ellen bent down to pick Socrates up before she answers. "Yes. Hannah is one of the few people I never forgets about~" The fluffy-headed girl blinked. "Um...who are you again? Mary Sans?"

"It's Marisa..." Marisa corrects. "And this 'ere's Reimu." The witch added as she points at the shrine maiden trainee. "We met 'bout a week ago?"

Ellen blinked again as she pieces the puzzle together. Meanwhile, Socrates meowed, as though trying to say that Marisa was right.

"Oh! Now I remember! We also met the lady who helped me to set up my shop!" The fluffy-headed girl cheerfully announced as she recalled.

Reimu and Marisa glanced at each other. "Yes, but not quite..." The two whispered to each other in unison.

Ellen had asked Yumemi to help set up a shop, and the professor helped by using a strange device that, according to her words, "3D-prints an entire building in minutes". Nobody understood what Yumemi meant by that, aside from Yumemi herself and Chiyuri.

Ellen was about to say something, but stopped at just opening her mouth. "Oh, but why did I come here again?" She wondered to herself, then turn around and left the way she came without thinking any further about it.

Socrates can be seen glancing at Reimu and Marisa, with a reassuring meow, before he disappeared from sight alongside his fluffy-headed master.

Reimu and Marisa both blinked as they try to process what they just saw and heard.

"I guess ya'll be seein' her more often from now on." Marisa points out to Reimu.

"With her shop being built so close to the shrine..." Reimu responds. "...It will be a shock if I didn't see her for days."

Just as Reimu is about to pour another cup of tea, she notices that both the teapot and the teacups are levitating off the ground on their own.

It did not take much guessing for Reimu and Marisa to know how and why it is happening.

"Kana Anaberal, haven't you played enough pranks on me for the past week?" Reimu says with a frustrated tone.

That was responded by having Marisa's witch hat levitating off her head, and Reimu's ribbon beginning to untie itself from her purple hair.

"Hey!" Marisa angrily cries out as she grabs her hat by the brim with both hands, and pull it back onto her head.

Reimu's reaction to having her ribbon being pulled off is almost identical to her reaction from last week. "GET YOUR SPECTRAL HANDS OFF MY RIBBON!" The shrine maiden trainee reacted hysterically, rapidly jabbing her hands at the untied and levitating ribbon in an attempt to catch it.

Kana materialized on the roof of the shrine. "She still treat her ribbon very preciously." The poltergeist mused as she continuously teased Reimu by pulling the shrine maiden trainee's ribbon out of reach whenever she is about to reach it. Kana basically made Reimu chase after her own ribbon all over the Hakurei Shrine, in the process knocking Ruukoto over by accident.

After about five minutes, Kana decided that she has teased Reimu enough, and allows the shrine maiden trainee to catch her ribbon. Then the poltergeist disappears into thin air before anyone can see her.

"I swear, I am going to seal that poltergeist away if I ever catch her..." Reimu says as she ties her ribbon back onto her hair.

"It ain't gonna be easy, I tell ya." Marisa says.

Kana was the only one to meet Yumemi that did not ask for anything. In fact, when Yumemi was about to address Kana, the poltergeist was nowhere to be seen. As Reimu discovered later, Kana has taken a liking to teasing the shrine maiden trainee, and has since been freeloading at the Hakurei Shrine, much to Reimu's frustration.

Reimu grumbled about Kana's teasing under her breath. "I'm going inside..." She tells Marisa and Ruukoto, then goes inside the shrine and closes the door behind her.

Now sitting in front of the donation box by herself, Marisa looked around the shrine courtyard before turning her gaze upon Ruukoto, who still hasn't gotten up as she lies face down in a pile of leaves. "Ya okay there, Green Hair?"

Ruukoto climbs up from the ground.  _"I am still functioning at normal capacity. Thank you for your concern."_  She answers, as she gets back to sweeping the leaves.

Marisa then lies down on the veranda, just staring at the bells that hung above the donation box. "Jeez. Ain't got anything interestin' lately..."

After procrastinating for several minutes, the witch had decided on what to do to pass the time. She gets up, and prepares to take off on her broom...

...Only to find herself face-to-face with Kotohime, who's actually wearing a police uniform instead of the floral-patterned regal kimono that Marisa last saw her wearing. The self-proclaimed police constable doesn't appear to be carrying her long gun, or any weapons for that matter.

"Oh, hi. Uh...what can I do for ya, Princess?" Marisa greeted Kotohime.

Kotohime took a handcuff out of her shirt pocket. "I would prefer if you address me as 'Constable',  _Genevieve_ ~" She replies with a hostile but teasing tone. "I'm on duty today, and I'm here to make an arrest."

Marisa tries not to scoff at being called 'Genevieve', as she looked around her. "So, who are ya arresting?" She says. "Reimu? Don't think she did anything wrong..."

With a quick motion, Kotohime locked one side of the handcuff on Marisa's left hand, and the other side on her own right hand. "Marisa Genevieve Kirisame, you are under arrest for crimes of thievery, assault and battery, discharging magic spells in the vicinity of the village, and of assisting wanted fugitive Mima."

Marisa dropped her jaws as she hears what Kotohime just said. "Did I do all that, and are they actually illegal?" The witch thought.

"Blame yourself for knowing so little about the law." Kotohime bluntly stated.

Marisa narrowed her eyes in protest. Then before Kotohime can realize it, the witch pulled her magic wand out with her right hand, and pointed it at the handcuff chains point blank. "Slice!" She declared.

The handcuff chains snapped in half with Marisa's spell casting. And with that, Marisa quickly hopped on her broom, and flew away at a very high speed.

"See ya later, sucker!" The witch taunted Kotohime before she disappeared from sight.

Kotohime stared at the departing Marisa in disbelief, then sighed.

"I told you that a mere handcuff isn't going to be very effective against the witch." A voice told Kotohime from behind her.

Kotohime turned around to see that it was Rikako.

"You should have asked Professor Okazaki for one of her stun guns, instead of something as trivial as that..." The magician-turned-scientist added as she points at Kotohime's police uniform. "Didn't you have more of these in the police quarter's wardrobe already?"

Kotohime retaliates with small pokes to Rikako's right shoulder. "Still much better than those first grade science textbooks she gave you." The self-proclaimed police constable reminded the magician-turned-scientist.

They both have a point regarding each other's choices back then. Kotohime had asked Yumemi for a police uniform from her world, and the professor fished through her ship's storeroom to find it, which didn't look much different than the ones Kotohime already have, aside from Yumemi's claims that it is 'bulletproof', 'fireproof', and 'a costume fetish that Chiyuri has outgrown years ago'. Rikako, on the other hand, asked for books on science, and Yumemi gave her a few such books that each says 'first grade science textbook' on their cover (though the professor did mention that these are leftovers from her own school years, and they are no longer used anywhere in the present day).

With that being said, though, it was too late to change their decisions, and both Kotohime and Rikako knew they'd have to stick with the choice they made.

"With that being said, though, I don't even have an arrest warrant for that witch, even if she did commit all those crimes mentioned." Kotohime changed the subject. "And I cannot arrest her without a warrant, which means she gets to roam free for the time being..."

Rikako tries to suppress a giggle. The normally stoic magician-turned-scientist found it actually pretty funny, and there hasn't been many things that could produce a non-stoic reaction from her.

"Hey, Rikako. Want to grab a bite?" Kotohime asked. "I know a snack house in the village that makes really delicious teacakes."

"I've got lots of free time, anyway..." Rikako answered.

With that, Kotohime and Rikako both took to the air (with the latter using a new homemade rocket backpack), and left the Hakurei Shrine, leaving Ruukoto by herself in the middle of the courtyard to sweep leaves.

* * *

And with that, we conclude the  _Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream_  arc.

Science and magic. Makes one wonder just how will the world be like if the two coexisted...

Of course, since Mima sat out of this story arc, unlike in  _PoDD_ , there is no reason for Yumemi to put the moon in a geosynchronous orbit above Gensokyo. So the status quo remains relatively unchanged...for the time being...

And so, we will begin the  _Lotus Land Story_  arc in the next chapter. So stay tuned for the updated version of Kazami Yuuka!

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	50. Limelight Before the Lotus

**Hakurei Shrine**

"Ow!"

"Seriously, Marisa. I can't believe you cheated in language class by using a translation spell." Reimu scolded as she wipes the witch's forehead with a wet piece of cloth. "You definitely deserved that headbutt from Kamishirasawa- _sensei_."

"Learnin' another language is such a hassle..." Marisa sulked, as she grabs the wet piece of cloth and pressed it against her forehead.

"Another...?!" Reimu was surprised by Marisa's excuse.

"'Ey, I'm not even speakin' the same language as you are, literally!" Marisa argued.

Reimu sighs. "You're hopeless..."

Marisa removes the cloth from her forehead. "Right. Ya do what ya want, Reimu. I'm gonna go for magic lessons at Miss Mima's."

With that said, the witch hopped onto her broom, and took off into the sky.

Reimu sighs again. "Is she...no, are westerners in general always like that?" She asked no one else in particular.

Ruukoto, who is mopping the shrine's veranda, heard what was just said. " _According to Miss Okazaki's journals, not all westerners."_

...

**Mima's House**

Calling this place a 'house' is kind of an overstatement. The 'house' is really just a dwelling made from a hollowed-out small hill that was abandoned by its original inhabitant a very long time ago, and calling it a hideout would be more appropriate. Mima just happened to stumble upon it while looking for a new place to serve as her hideout (she decided that Reimaden is ultimately not suitable as a residence due to the troubles one has to go through to reach it), and found it to be just right ("not too shabby" in Marisa's words) and big enough to accomodate her pupils too. The evil spirit had made the old dwelling her residence, and the new place for her pupils to learn magic.

In addition, it also is neither too far nor too near from the Hakurei Shrine. Which means Marisa and her friends could always go mooch off some teas and snacks from Reimu whenever they feel like it.

"I heard that you were caught cheating in Language Class at the village schoolhouse..." That was the first thing Mima said when Marisa entered the hideout. "Is your head alright?"

"If ya mean the pain from gettin' headbutted by the teacher, I'm fine." Says Marisa, as she sets her flying broomstick on a broom rack near the door. "If ya mean what I'm thinkin' that time, same."

As soon as Marisa finishes her statement, one of her witch friends can be heard giggling in response, without stopping what she is doing at the moment (brewing something in a cauldron). Even Mima can't help but find Marisa's statement a little bit amusing.

"Har-har-har.  _Very funny_..." Marisa reacts sarcastically.

Mima then pretends to clear her throat. "Enough with that, Marisa. Now why don't you go practice what I taught you yesterday?"

"I was 'bout to..." Marisa responds before using her magic wand to draw a spell circle in the air.

It didn't take more than a minute for the witch to finish drawing the spell circle. Although it simply faded away without doing anything after just a few seconds.

"You missed a rune..." Mima points out for Marisa. "But good try."

Marisa frowned. "But that was the same rune as the last three time. Why do I keep forgettin' that one...?"

Mima was about to say something, but was stopped by a knock at the door.

"Who could that be? No one ever knocks..." Marisa says. "'cept Ako, when she's goin' to play the doorknob-zapper prank."

Mima scans the room before turning back toward Marisa. "But Ako is inside here with us." The evil spirit says as she points a finger at a corner of the room.

Marisa turns toward that corner, and sees another one of her witch friends sitting behind a desk, and was in the middle of reading a big spell book.

"Maybe you should go fetch the door?" The friend suggested.

The knocking on the door got louder, as whoever is outside began knocking harder.

"Alright, I'll get it. This better not be a prank..." Marisa says as she starts walking toward the door.

...

**Hakurei Shrine**

"Reimu, you shouldn't leave all your work to that...girl..." Genji says, when he notices the shrine maiden trainee lying on the tatami inside the shrine while Ruukoto swept the courtyard.

"I did the laundry and the dishes myself, didn't I?" Reimu argues, still lying on the tatami.

"But a shrine maiden is supposed to sweep the shrine grounds herself." Genji argued back.

Reimu got up. "That was supposed to be part of my training?" She asked.

"Yes..." Genji answered bluntly.

Reimu procrastinated for a brief moment there. Then she stood up. "Good point, gramps..."

Grumbling, the shrine maiden trainee then walks out of the shrine.

"Ruukoto, give me the broom. Your work for today is done." Reimu tells Ruukoto as she prepares to snatch the broom from the green-haired girl.

Ruukoto did not respond. Instead, she seems to be staring at a particular spot on the ground with suspicion.

Reimu notices Ruukoto's suspicious staring, and looks at that spot herself. "What's wrong? Why are you looking at the grounds like that?" She asked.

 _"I have detected an unknown subterranean entity approaching this location."_  Ruukoto answered.

Reimu doesn't understand the choice of vocabulary used by the green-haired girl. "Mind repeating that in proper Yamato?"

 _"In much simpler words: something is trying to force its way out from right below here."_  Ruukoto explains.

Genji suddenly appears behind Reimu. "She is correct. There appears to be a powerful aura being emitted by something beneath the shrine grounds..." The flying turtle says.

Reimu tensed up. "Something is...?"

Before the shrine maiden trainee can get any more clues on what she was told, something suddenly burst out of the ground, throwing large amounts of earth and cobblestone into the air, as well as throwing Reimu, Genji and Ruukoto several feet away onto their backs.

As Reimu wipes the dirt off her face and gets up, she takes a look at the entity, and sees that it bears the appearance of a house-sized lotus flower that is radiating a large amount of aura.

"W-w-w-what is that?!" Reimu exclaims loudly.

"Be careful, Reimu!" Genji warns the shrine maiden trainee. "That is a Bewitching Lotus!"

"I don't like the sound of that..." Reimu remarks after having a feeling of dread.

The massive lotus flower appears to gather a ball of magic energy over itself, before unleashing the energy in the form of danmaku at Reimu...

* * *

And so begins the  _Lotus Land Story_  arc.

First up, the [Bewitching Lotus Flower](https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Bewitching_Lotus_Flower) (here simply named the Bewitching Lotus) arrives at the Hakurei Shrine with a bang, then immediately begins attacking Reimu without doing anything else beforehand.

Now, what could this version of Kazami Yuuka be planning? Or does she even have a hand in this version of  _Lotus Land Story_ 's incident? Read on to find out!

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	51. Bad Flowers Blooming

**Hakurei Shrine**

Reimu quickly took to the air as the Bewitching Lotus begins its assault on her.

The shrine maiden trainee counterattacks by firing danmaku at the Bewitching Lotus. The monster flower, being a flower, is unable to dodge the counterattack, but makes up for that by simply being tough enough that the danmaku did absolutely nothing to it.

"No effect?! But how?!" Reimu is very surprised by the fact that her attack is completely ignored despite being a direct hit.

"Be careful, Reimu!" Genji warns. "Bewitching Lotuses may be immobile and have little to no intelligence, but they are extremely powerful! A previous Hakurei shrine maiden almost died fighting one!"

As soon as Genji finishes that, he found himself being grabbed by Ruukoto and hoisted over her head.

 _"I am sorry, Mister Genji, but it is too dangerous outside."_  Ruukoto says as she runs inside the shrine building with Genji in tow.

Now Reimu is left to fend off the Bewitching Lotus on her own.

The Bewitching Lotus fires another barrage at Reimu, which the shrine maiden trainee dodges. But one danmaku managed to graze Reimu by the side of her waist. She felt the danmaku cutting not too deep into her skin.

The danmaku drew blood.

This reminded Reimu of her first encounter with Mima, whose danmaku back then also drew blood. "Fine. If you want to be exterminated, then so be it!" Reimu says to the Bewitching Lotus in response to the attack, not expecting the monster flower to respond back.

Reimu begins her assault anew with a barrage of Ofuda, followed by launching the Ying-Yang Orb at the Bewitching Lotus.

The Ofuda barrage exploded around the Bewitching Lotus, followed by it taking a direct hit from the Ying-Yang Orb, which stunned it for a brief moment, but otherwise have little to no effect on it.

Reimu went pale. She has basically expended all available options (at least, the ones she know as a trainee) and yet the Bewitching Lotus shrugged them all off. "Godsdamn, what does it take to defeat this monstrosity?"

Just as the Bewitching Lotus is gathering more magic aura for a counterattack, something small fell into its center from the sky...

...Which then exploded in a cloud of white mist, followed by what appeared to be frost spreading all over the Bewitching Lotus.

The monster flower became still as a statue after the frost has finishes forming all over it. Then just a few seconds later, it shattered into several hundred tiny pieces like a glass sculpture being thrown against the floor.

Reimu blinked. She doesn't understand what just happened. At the same time, she is glad that something has taken down the Bewitching Lotus.

Ruukoto and Genji took a peek from inside the shrine too see why it suddenly became silent.

"Whew, just in time..." Says Marisa as she descend upon the shrine grounds. "Ya oughtta thank me, Reimu, 'cause that thing looked like it was about to rip ya a new one."

Reimu lands. "Thanks for the rescue..." The shrine maiden trainee then notices something else. "Marisa, who is that you're carrying with you?"

Marisa dismounts from her flying broomstick, slowly this time as she is carrying someone over her back. "Oh, right! I was just coming to tell you about her!" The witch then lays the person down on the ground.

On closer look, the person appears to be a young lady with purple hair at medium length, and wears a long blue dress. She has an apron with a white cross on it (Reimu is reminded that Okazaki Yumemi had a similar-looking cross as a pendant), and she also has a pair of white wings. Both the wings and her clothes appear to have scorch marks and burn damage, indicating that she came out of a very violent danmaku battle not too long ago. She appears to be unconscious at the moment.

"She just suddenly came knockin' on Miss Mima's doorstep, already lookin' like this..." Marisa explains to Reimu. "Went out cold after uttering 'Youkai attack' something something..."

Reimu's eyebrows twitched. "Youkai...?" She then eyes the lady's white wings. "She doesn't look human, either..."

Marisa took her magic wand out from her hat. "If anyone's gonna explain what's goin' on, its her."

Reimu glares at Marisa. "Do you have to do everything with a magic spell?"

Marisa isn't intimidated. Instead, she simply frowned before putting her magic wand away. "Then what else are ya thinkin'?"

Before the witch can get an answer, the winged lady suddenly coughed as she begins to stir.

"Uh...never mind..." Marisa tells Reimu. "I think she's comin' to, anyway."

As the winged lady regained consciousness, she slowly opened her eyes to get a bearing of her surroundings. When she does so, she noticed Reimu standing near her...

...And immediately shot up from her lying position, gasping in panic.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down!" Marisa tells the winged lady as she comes to her side. "Its okay! This is Reimu. She's a friend." The witch says.

The winged lady looked back and forth between Reimu and Marisa, breathing rapidly for another minute or so before calming down.

Reimu kneels down next to the winged lady, then asked, "What's going on? What did you mean by 'Youkai attack'?"

...

The winged lady slowly explained everything to Reimu and Marisa.

"So let me be clear about what you just told us..." Reimu says. "Your name is Matenshi. You are just minding your own business as a lesser Youkai at an empty plains. Then suddenly, sunflowers started growing in the area near this usually lifeless mansion." Reimu mentally pictures what she was told as she repeats it. "And with the sunflowers came a huge burst of magic energy..."

"Which, in turn, caused all the nearby fairies and such to go absolutely nuts, shootin' up everything they can see." The second half is continued by Marisa. "Ya barely managed to get outta there in one piece. Then ya stumbled upon Miss Mima's hideout where I found you, and that's how it went on your side, ain't it?"

The winged lady, Matenshi, nods.

Marisa turns toward Reimu. "What'cha gonna do 'bout this?" She asks.

"What else?" Reimu answers. "If the Bewitching Lotus came here because of what she said..." The shrine maiden trainee points at Matenshi. "Then I need to put an end to it before everything goes out of control!"

"But Reimu..." Genji approaches. "You have yet to complete your training. What can you do against whatever may be causing it?" The flying turtle attempts to dissuade Reimu.

"But who else is qualified to do it?" Reimu shoots a response back at Genji. "There is no way in Gensokyo that the village's peacekeepers can handle it. They handle petty criminals,  _not_  some powerful supernatural being." The shrine maiden trainee turns to look at the crater that the Bewitching Lotus emerged from, eyeing the leftover magic energy that is slowly leaking out of it.

Reimu notices that the magic energy is travelling toward somewhere distant in the southwest, completely unaffected by the wind blowing from that direction.

"And I know where to start looking..." Reimu says, before she took off into the air, heading toward the direction the magic energy is travelling to.

Marisa stood there awkwardly as she watches the shrine maiden trainee take off on her own. "Did she gain weight recently?" The witch asks as she turns toward Genji.

Genji stares at Marisa awkwardly for a few seconds, before nodding a tiny bit.

"Figures." Marisa remarks.

* * *

Yeah, I know Matenshi is from  _Story of Eastern Wonderland_ , but since I omitted her from the  _SoEW_  arc in this fic, I would feel guilty if she doesn't even get a tiny appearance in the story. So I moved her here, where she tells Reimu and Marisa about the beginning of the  _Lotus Land Story_  incident.

Don't be so surprised that the Bewitching Lotus went down so easily. It wasn't very tough either when you fought it in  _LLS_  (it is just the stage 1 mid-boss, after all).

Let me be honest that this version of Yuuka isn't going to be malicious or sadistic in any way. Her infamy as the Ultimate Sadistic Creature in fanon is pure flanderization of two of her canon lines in  _LLS_ , and I'm going to have her react entirely differently to those two lines than she did in canon.

Next up, Reimu and Marisa comes across a Youkai with an attitude.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	52. A Big Misunderstanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foreign language insult present. However, nothing's vulgar about it.

**Somewhere above Gensokyo**

"Marisa, aren't you supposed to stay behind and help me watch the shrine?"

Reimu exasperated when she notices Marisa flying alongside her, also following the trail of magic energy. Marisa has left Matenshi behind at the Hakurei Shrine under Ruukoto and Genji's care.

"Don'tcha have Green Hair and Old Turtle already?" Marisa responds, talking about Ruukoto and Genji.

Reimu sighs. "One's not meant for combat, the other's past his prime already." She explains to the witch. "Does Mima even know you're following me?" The shrine maiden trainee adds.

"Maybe." Marisa gives a straight answer.

Reimu sighs again. "Then does  _your father_  knows about this?"

"Nope~" Marisa gives another straight answer.

Reimu cocked her eyebrows. "You're hopeless, Marisa..."

Marisa looked like she was about to answer in a proud manner, but stopped upon noticing the trail of magic energy suddenly heading down towards the ground.

Reimu noticed the change in travel direction of the magic energy trail too. "Do you think we're getting close...?"

Marisa snaps her finger. "Let's find out." The witch then shoots off toward where the magic energy is heading. "I'll race ya there!" She said.

"Again?!" Reimu remarked before going in pursuit of Marisa.

...

**Outside Fairy Forest**

As the two girls reached the ground, they find the magic energy seeping into a small crack on the ground.

Reimu scanned the surrounding, and notes that its the Fairy Forest. "Here...again?" She wondered.

Marisa is more interested in the small crack that seems to be sucking in the magic energy. "Oh? What do we have 'ere?" She poked the small crack with the tip of her broomstick.

"Marisa, be careful..." Reimu warned.

The witch doesn't seem to heed the warning. "Who ya think I am? I handle magic stuff all the time!" She proudly says, as she reaches inside her hat and pulls out a flask. "I'm gonna get some of these! For research!"

"I wouldn't touch any of that if I were you." Says a voice from elsewhere.

Stopping their observation on the small crack, Reimu and Marisa looked around for the source of the voice.

The girls found that the voice belonged to a girl standing on top of a boulder. This girl has red eyes, long red hair tied with a white bow, and wears a yellow cap. Her outfit is a green blouse with yellow puffy short sleeves, and yellow shorts. She also appears to be carrying a baton.

"Humans shouldn't be touching anything magical without safety precautions." The girl added.

Reimu eyed the girl with suspicion. She looks indistinguishable from a human, yet something about her tells the shrine maiden trainee that she isn't one. "Who are you?" Reimu asks, trying to hide her suspicion with a normal speech tone.

"Oops, pardon me~" The girl reacted awkwardly, much to Reimu and Marisa's surprise. Then she jumps off the boulder with a somersault, landing in front of the two girls.

**Youkai With Attitude**

**Orange**

"My name's Orange. I just happened upon you two." She introduces herself.

"Just happened?" Marisa also became a bit suspicious, but unlike Reimu, the witch isn't hiding her suspicion. "I dunno what'cha thinking, but this definitely ain't a coincidence."

"Marisa is right." Reimu joins in, getting her gohei ready. "There is no way this is just a coincidence."

Orange took a step back. "Wh-wh-what? I really just..."

"I can tell that you are not human either." Reimu adds. "Then you must be a Youkai."

Orange took another step back. "H-hey! Listen..."

Reimu and Marisa didn't even wait for Orange to begin explaining as they both start firing danmaku at her. "Begone, Youkai!" Both girls said in unison.

With no time to think, Orange raised her baton in front of her, and spun it...

...Which deflected all the danmaku fired at her.

"Now I wasn't expectin' that..." Marisa reacts with surprise.

"Me too." Reimu agrees.

Orange then quickly makes her getaway by taking to the air.

"Hey! Come back here!" Reimu shouts at Orange before taking off to pursue her.

"Hey, Reimu! Wait for me!" Marisa quickly hops on her broomstick and follows the shrine maiden trainee.

...

**Above Fairy Forest**

Without thinking any further, Orange flew westwards in an attempt to get away from Reimu and Marisa.

However, the Youkai didn't get very far before the shrine maiden trainee and the witch caught up with her.

Orange fires several danmaku as warning shots at Reimu and Marisa, who dodged them before returning fire.

Realizing she has no chance of outrunning the duo, Orange decided to stop where she is, turns around, and then deflects the danmaku by spinning her baton.

Marisa stopped in mid air. "Oh, I'm gonna she's gettin' serious now..." She says.

Reimu also stopped. "Then we should get serious too." She says.

"Please listen to me!" Orange tries to tell Reimu and Marisa. "There is a misundersta-"

"Check this out!" Marisa interrupted before throwing a flask filled with some kind of potion at Orange.

Orange expected the flask to be a thrown weapon, so she braced herself, spinning her baton to attempt to deflect it...

...And finds that she doesn't have to, since the flask falls short of reaching her, and plunges toward the ground.

Marisa stared awkwardly at where the flask went to. "Okay, I need to work on my throw..."

Reimu steps in. "Leave this to me, Marisa." She tells the witch.

With that said, the shrine maiden trainee then throws several Ofuda at Orange.

Orange panicked when she saw the Ofuda. Instead of spinning her baton to shield herself, she opted to dodge them before shooting back at Reimu and Marisa.

Reimu and Marisa split up, each going the opposite direction, as they both start putting effort into fighting the Youkai.

"We're in this together, Reimu!" Marisa says.

"I know!" Reimu answers.

Reimu and Marisa starts shooting at Orange from opposite directions with a large barrage of danmaku, , hoping that will eventually overwhelm her danmaku-deflecting baton-spin.

It seems to be working. Orange is struggling to keep up with deflecting the danmaku from opposite directions, and is kept busy by them so that she is unable to shoot back at Reimu and Marisa.

"SLICE!" Marisa decides to surprise Orange by casting a spell which, as it cannot be deflected, cuts her baton in half, robbing the Youkai of her sole defense.

While Orange stares with disbelief at her cut baton, Reimu moved in, gohei at hand, as she prepares to take down the Youkai.

By the time Orange notices the shrine maiden trainee approaching her, the gohei is just a split second away from making contact with her head.

...

**Fairy Forest**

"Hey, wake up, little girl..."

Orange is jolted awake when cold water is poured over her face.

Or rather, Marisa cast a spell to conjure cold water directly above Orange, which is then poured over her.

Reimu then steps in front of Orange, gohei in hand, looking all tense. "Now tell me, Orange. Did you really  _just happened_  to stumble upon Marisa and I back there?"

Despite still being wet from being poured with cold water just now, Orange sweated nervously.

"Just answer her, will ya?" Marisa tells the Youkai.

Orange swallowed hard before answering, "Y-yes! That's what really happened! I-I swear!"

The next few seconds was tense, as Reimu looked like she is about to do something to Orange...

...Which, as it turns out, is just stepping back, relaxing herself in the progress. "Then I'm sorry for me and Marisa beating you up just now..."

Orange became confused with the shrine maiden trainee's response. "Huh? Didn't you..."

"It just hit us right after we knocked ya out." Marisa explains. "If ya really are goin' to attack us, then why'd ya run away when we attacked first?"

"Marisa just said it..." Reimu says.

Hearing that, Orange relaxed. "I thought I was about to get exorcised..."

Reimu took a step forward. "By the way, there is something I'm going to ask you about..."

Orange perked up when she hears that. "If you mean the mansion with a field of sunflowers growing around it..." The youkai points behind her. "It's this way."

Reimu and Marisa both looks at where Orange is pointing.

"The magic seems to be much stronger over there..." Reimu comments.

Without saying another word, Reimu takes off into the air, and heads for the direction Orange pointed at.

"Hey, Reimu, don'tcha leave me behind!" Marisa yelled out before hopping onto her broomstick. "Oh, and thanks for the direction. I was just lookin' for it~" The witch says to Orange with a wink before going after Reimu.

Now, except for a tiny fairy that just happened to pass by and decided to look at her, Orange is left all by herself in the Fairy Forest.

The Youkai slumped down on the leaf-covered ground of the forest. Noticing the fairy, she said, "她们俩简直就是垃圾。" [The two of them are garbage, (you know that?)] Of course, she isn't expecting the fairy to understand what she is saying.

* * *

And there goes Orange.

Yes, I know its an underwhelming fight. But the actual fight against her in  _LLS_  is also pretty underwhelming, considering that you can defeat her before you even notice she has gone ex-mode.

And also, Orange is Taiwanese in my headcanon. Most people thought of her to be Chinese due to her resemblance to Meiling. But for me, she's Taiwanese (then again, Taiwanese  _is also_  Chinese), just because. Hence the very last thing she said in Mandarin (which for the record, is different in Taiwan than in China like how English is different between the UK and US).

When I said in the previous chapter that Reimu and Marisa will meet a Youkai with attitude, the aforementioned insult-in-Mandarin-behind-their-back is what I meant by it, in case you're wondering: "where's the attitude in Orange?"

Next up: The Fairy Forest's residents want revenge against Reimu for what happened in the  _HRtP_  arc. And Marisa gets bitten by a vampire, but thankfully won't turn into one herself.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	53. Marisa Stealin' the Focus

**Above Fairy Forest**

"Reimu, ya seein' something?" Marisa asked as she flew alongside the shrine maiden trainee.

"Only the forest." Reimu answers. "And the fairies living in it."

Marisa recalls something. "Don'tcha wanna be careful 'round them?" The witch says. "After all, ya beat 'em up the last time ya came 'ere..."

Reimu brandishes her gohei. "In that case, I'll just beat them up again."

Marisa looked like she was about to say something, but stopped short of opening her mouth before reaching into her witch hat, and pulling out a crystal orb, stopping in mid-air as she does so.

Reimu noticed Marisa stopping, and she stopped as well. "Is there something?" The shrine maiden trainee asks.

"I just got contacted, and I need to answer, see if its important..." Marisa answers.

Apparently, someone is contacting Marisa via crystal orb, and she is just answering the call. She tapped on the crystal orb once, and it went from being transparent to showing an image of one of Marisa's witch friends.

"Fey! Fancy havin' you call me!" Marisa greets. "So, why you, and not Miss Mima?"

The other witch, apparently called Fey, glances at whatever is occurring behind her, before turning back toward Marisa. "Um... Miss Mima just went on an errand to Makai. She won't be back for a while. And..." Fey glances behind her again. "...Ako accidentally spilled some potions on a rose bush, and now it's growing out of control..."

A thick bundle of thorny vines is seen growing uncontrollably behind Fey, and more apprentice witches can be seen trying and failing to contain the situation.

"...It might not ever stop if we don't do something!" Another apprentice witch who looks identical to Fey comes into view of the crystal orb. "We need an advice, quick!"

"Cool it, Rey." Marisa comes up with a response almost immediately. "Why don'tcha try spraying it with Coldfire? It'll burn off the potion's magic, stoppin' the growth entirely."

Fey and Rey - her twin sister - both turns to look at the overgrowing thorny vines, seeing another apprentice witch getting literally tangled up in the mess, then turns back toward Marisa. "Thank you! We'll give it a try!" Both of them said in unison before terminating the call in a hurry, causing the crystal orb to become transparent again.

As Marisa puts the crystal orb away, Reimu crosses her arms. "Does your friends always ask you for advice?" She asks.

"Sometimes." Marisa answers. "I'm a fast learner when it comes to magic and stuff. Well, mostly."

Reimu sighs. "Then why can't you be a fast learner in Kamishirasawa- _sensei_ 's classes?"

"'Cause that ain't the same thing!" Marisa, feeling a bit insulted by the shrine maiden trainee's statement, protests.

Reimu is not in the mood to argue. "Whatever you say, Mari..."

A boulder-sized danmaku suddenly flies past Reimu and Marisa. The ambush attack is followed by a mob of fairies emerging from the trees.

"There's that purple-haired girl from before!" Shouted a fairy who is holding a stick and acting like a commander. "Get her!"

Marisa turns toward Reimu. "Yep. These little fellas remember..." She snarks about the Fairy Forest's residents.

Reimu sighs. "Arrogant little rascals." She then begins firing danmaku at the fairies.

"Hey, count me in too!" Marisa says, then joins Reimu as she too starts firing at the fairies.

...

Several hundred fairies later...

"FREEZE!"

With a wave of her magic wand, Marisa casts a spell that encased a Flower Fairy in a block of ice, which then falls on the head of another Flower Fairy, knocking her out as well.

"And that's that." Marisa says, as she strikes a victorious pose while still seated on her flying broomstick.

"I keep being reminded that fairies are arrogant and stupid," Reimu remarks, looking at the unconscious fairies strewn all over the forest. "But to remember a feud for months, that was a first..."

Marisa turns toward Reimu and snaps her fingers, producing a tiny spark. "For the record, I kicked about 108 fairy a..."

Reimu suddenly glares at the witch. "Come on, Marisa. Are we doing that thing from the Mysterious Ruins again?"

Marisa readjusts her hat. "Just sayin'."

Reimu tilts her head a little bit to the side. "Well then, I definitely did better than you..." The shrine maiden trainee says with a smirk. "I counted my score at 117." She then swings her gohei to her side, knocking out a fairy that was about to surprise-attack her with a Kedama. "Now its 118."

"Wha...? No freakin' way!" Marisa protests.

Reimu then notices something ahead of her. "Let's put our scores aside for now, Marisa." She says. "I think there is something up ahead."

...

**Lake of Blood**

Emerging from the Fairy Forest, Reimu and Marisa runs into what looked like a large lake with blood-red waters. The lake is so large its opposite side could not be seen from this side.

Reimu gasped at the sight. "Is that...really blood?"

Marisa dismounts from her flying broomstick, and crouches next to the lake bank. "I dunno, seems like a heck load of the stuff to me..." Saying that, the witch brought her right hand closer to the surface of the lake.

Reimu sees what Marisa is about to do, and tries to stop her. "Don't touch tha..."

Marisa's finger made contact with the blood-red water...and nothing out of the ordinary happens as the witch slowly retracts her hand. A drop of the blood-red water can be seen hanging off her finger before it falls off.

"Nope." Marisa comments as she wipes her right hand with her left sleeve. "Just plain ol' water with a heck load of copper in it."

Reimu became confused. "How can you tell?"

Marisa stands up and turns toward Reimu. "Hello? Alchemy is also magic, and I learned enough from Miss Mima to know stuffs like this!" She says.

"I wish you learned just as much from Kamishirasawa- _sensei_ 's cla..." Reimu mumbles.

"Ya know what?" Marisa interrupts as she hops onto her flying broomstick. "I'm gonna go to the other side of the lake, see what's over there."

With that, the witch flew off by herself.

"H-hey! Don't just leave me behind!" Reimu shouts at Marisa, then takes off into the air to pursue her.

...

The blood-red lake really is huge. Reimu and Marisa have already been flying over it for several minutes, and yet the opposite end is still nowhere in sight.

"I'm glad that this isn't really blood..." Reimu remarks. "But, isn't this a bit too big for a lake?"

"Ya tell me..." Marisa responds.

It took another few minutes of flying before the two girls noticed something emerging from beyond the horizon.

"Look, Reimu!" Marisa exclaims as she points forward.

"I see it, Marisa." Reimu responds.

Beyond the horizon, they could see what appears to be a large field of sunflowers surrounding a western-looking mansion on a small hill.

Reimu and Marisa both turned toward each other.

"Sunflowers surrounding a mansion..." Reimu recalls. "Isn't that what Matenshi described?"

"Pretty sure that's it." Marisa remarks.

A small group of fairies flew past the girls, heading toward the direction of the western mansion. Followed by a whole crowd of fairies heading for the same direction. Reimu thought she saw at least one Doom Fairy among the crowd, and that made her shiver a bit as she remembers her first encounter with one. The thought of facing multiple Doom Fairies in succession or even at once scared the shrine maiden trainee.

Reimu takes another look at the western mansion, then turns to tell Marisa. "Fairies going berserk? We need to be caref-" She suddenly gasped when she notices something. "M-M-M-Ma-Marisa,  _there's a bat on your back!_ " Reimu screamed.

Marisa has never heard Reimu scream before, much less in terror, so she knew the shrine maiden trainee is very serious about what she just said. And there is no need to investigate, since the witch does indeed feel something on her back, and it is inching slowly toward her neck. "A bat? How did it..."

Marisa then felt a pair of sharp fangs piercing the skin of her neck.

"Ow!" Marisa reacted. She draws her wand out, point it at where she was bitten, and fires a single danmaku at point-blank range, knocking the bat off of her.

Reimu follows that by firing more danmaku at the bat, causing it to fly off in panic.

Marisa puts her hand over where she was bitten. "Dang it. Of all the places to run into a freakin' winged blood-sucking rat..." She then complains.

Reimu was panting heavily after that experience. "But the sun is still up right now, and bats..."

Reimu and Marisa both suddenly realizes something.

"...hate lights..." Marisa ends the sentence as she comes to a realization. "That means that bat..."

The same bat reappears, this time hovering in front of the girls in a way that suggests that it is trying to prevent them from going any further.

The bat then erupts in a puff of red magic smoke...

...And appearing in its place is a young girl with yellow eyes, long blonde hair with a white bow, and wears a white shirt and black suspender with a red bowtie. Notable about the 'young girl' is her large bat wings.

"Your blood...tastes bitter." The 'young girl' comments as she lick her lips.

This certainly caught Reimu and Marisa by surprise.

Marisa points a finger at the girl and began stuttering. "...Is a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a..." The witch's face went noticeably pale. "...A  _vampire_?! Am I goin' to become one, and have to live off of people's blood for the rest of my life?!"

The young girl seemed to giggle. "Don't worry, you won't turn~" She says in a sing-song voice.

Reimu gets all tensed up. "How can you be so sure?"

**The Vampire-like Bat Youkai**

**Kurumi**

"My name is Kurumi, and I'm not a vampire~" The young girl introduces herself. "Actually, I'm just a bat Youkai."

Marisa calmed down with a heavy sigh. "But why'd ya bite me?" The witch is still a bit angry.

"I was just trying to scare you off, because someone told me to keep intruders away~" Came Kurumi's response.

* * *

Is Marisa's "Coldfire" advice going to end up useful at some point later? Maybe.

And so, we're introduced to Kurumi in this chapter. You'd notice that Kurumi here is a bat Youkai instead of a vampire, and that her biting Marisa is actually just a scare tactic. Why? The better question is, why not? Since you'll basically forget about her immediately after defeating her in  _LLS_.

I said before that I'm going to give the recurring extras names just so we don't have to always refer to them as "that girl with X features" or "those girls who follow Y", starting with Marisa's witch friends, with three of five having been named Aki, Fey and Rey. More will come later as I continue writing for the story.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterwords end here._


	54. Chiroptophobia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you're wondering, the chapter's title means the fear of bats.

**Lake of Blood**

"Someone...?" Reimu and Marisa both noted after hearing Kurumi's explanation.

"Yes, a western lady with a scythe~" Kurumi adds.

Reimu and Marisa glances at each other. They both blinked.

"Scythe? I ain't gonna like that..." Marisa remarks.

Reimu nods in agreement. She then seemingly realizes something, as she turns back toward Kurumi. "This western lady with the scythe. She's from the western mansion with the sunflower field around it?" She asks the bat Youkai.

"Yes~" Kurumi answers the shrine maiden trainee. "Why do you ask~?" She adds.

Reimu glances at Marisa again. The witch glanced back at her too.

"Maybe we're on the right track, after all..." Marisa shoots Reimu a suggestion.

Once again, Reimu nods.

Kurumi tilts her head slightly. "Are you two looking for her~?" She asks.

"Maybe..." Reimu answers.

Kurumi crosses her arms. "Sorry, then. But I can't let you through." She tells the two girls, dropping her sing-song voice and opting for a normal one.

"I knew negotiations isn't going to work..." Reimu remarks as she prepares a handful of Ofuda.

"I wanted to shoot'cha in the face for bitin' me, anyway." Marisa says as she points her magic wand at Kurumi. "So...TAKE THIS!" She then fires a shower of danmaku at the bat Youkai.

In her humanoid form, Kurumi's wide wingspan makes it difficult for her to dodge the shower of danmaku. So she avoided being hit by transforming back into a bat, then tries her best to dodge. She got hit by one danmaku, but didn't get immediately knocked out by it.

Reimu noticeably became nervous when Kurumi transformed into a bat.

Kurumi then transforms into her humanoid form again. "She also told me that if the intruders weren't scared off, I should use force instead." She says.

"I-I guess we'll have to g-go through  _you_  instead..." Reimu says nervously.

The shrine maiden trainee then begins her attack by throwing several Ofuda at Kurumi.

...

**Hakurei Shrine**

Genji lied down on the shrine veranda as he watched Ruukoto filling up the crater that the Bewitching Lotus emerged from with dirt, then replacing the cobblestone that was blown apart by its emerging.

All Genji is thinking of right now is what kind of opponent might Reimu face at the source of the incident.

"So I heard that something powerful attacked the Shrine a while ago..." A familiar voice said.

Genji need not turn toward the source of the voice to guess who it is. "What of it that interests you?" He asks.

Mima "sat down" next to Genji. "Nothing. Just the fact that Reimu couldn't stop it, but Marisa took it out in seconds." The evil spirit says. "And the former calls herself the future Hakurei shrine maiden..."

Genji glanced at Mima for a brief moment before letting out a soft chuckle. "The world always changes. So do the people living in it."

Mima seemed to scoff upon hearing that. "Yet Shinki has not changed at all in the past decades."

Genji glances at the evil spirit. "What does the Makaiese demons have to do with this...?"

"I'm just citing an example." Mima explains.

Not another word was exchanged between the two for a minute as they both watched Ruukoto fumble and drop a block of cobblestone on her foot by accident. The green-hair maid, however, appears to be unhurt, and saw dropping the block of cobblestone on her foot to be a mild inconvenience.

"So..." Mima breaks the silence. "...I told Shinki about the attack here by that Bewitching Lotus, and everything that was said by this young lady." She points behind her, indicating Matenshi who is resting inside the shrine's living quarters. "She said she has a rough idea who the culprit is, but doubts it is the case."

Genji looks away from Mima without saying a word.

Mima notices the flying turtle's suspicious behavior. "You know it's  _her_ , don't you?" She interrogates him. "Only she has the power to control something like a Bewitching Lotus, but you too doubt her intentions of doing so."

Genji sighs as he turns back toward Mima. "Yes, I believe Kazami may be behind this Incident. But  _why_  she did so...that is another question, for she is wielding a power not compatible with personalities like hers..."

...

**Lake of Blood**

Reimu and Marisa were having trouble landing a hit on Kurumi, who very often transforms back into a bat to make herself a smaller target and thus more difficult to hit.

Kurumi's own danmaku attack has her firing aimed bursts of danmaku, which included a few laser beams, at her targets. However, she can't use danmaku while in her bat form.

"Dang, she's freakin' hard to hit!" Marisa complains as she fires danmaku after danmaku in an attempt to hit the bat Youkai.

"I know!" Reimu says as she throws some more Ofuda at Kurumi.

The Ofuda missed her, and continued on their trajectory before hitting the lake's surface, spraying its red water several feet into the air which then rains down upon Reimu and Marisa, staining their outfits with red splotches.

"Jeez!" Marisa voices her irritation. "Ya got red water on my clothes!"

"Sorry!" Reimu apologizes.

Kurumi, who isn't bothered one bit by the spray, fires a huge burst of danmaku at Reimu and Marisa.

Reimu and Marisa evades the huge burst by splitting up, flying off in opposite directions. The two then fires danmaku at Kurumi from opposite sides.

However, Kurumi evade the attacks by transforming into a bat, then flying out of the way of the danmaku, resulting in the shrine maiden trainee and the witch shooting at each other instead.

Caught by surprise, Reimu and Marisa were unable to dodge one another's danmaku in time. Being hit by the other girl's danmaku caused them both to yelp in pain.

"Ouch! Let's not try that again!" Marisa says.

"Let's not..." Reimu agrees.

As the two girls prepare for another round of attacks, they notices that Kurumi has disappeared from sight.

"Where'd she go?" Marisa wonders as she looks around.

"I don't see her..." Reimu says.

Just as the two girls are about to regroup with each other, Kurumi, still in her bat form, suddenly appears right in front of Marisa, thrashing the witch in an attempt to make her fall off her flying broomstick.

"What the...?! 'Ey! Knock it off" Marisa yelled out as she tries to swat the bat Youkai away with her magic wand. While doing so, she suddenly lost balance, and tumbled off her flying broomstick, barely managing to grab hold of it at the last second.

"Marisa!" Reimu cries out. Knowing that Marisa can't fly on her own, she tries to fly over and give the witch some help.

Kurumi decides to switch target, and is now going after Reimu.

Reimu notices Kurumi approaching her. She stopped in midair as she starts firing danmaku at the bat Youkai in an attempt to stop her. Reimu's danmaku attack got denser and more intense as Kurumi gets closer and closer, until the latter got close enough to start thrashing her.

The shrine maiden trainee stopped firing danmaku, her face went pale, and then she  _screamed_  as she gets attacked by the bat Youkai.

"GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME!" Reimu, overcome by terror, practically forgot about trying to shoot down Kurumi, instead focusing on keeping her away.

Marisa, dangling off her flying broomstick by one hand, sees Reimu being helpless to save herself, knew she has to do something. "Hang on, Reimu! I'm coming!" The witch puts her magic wand away, and grabbed hold of her flying broomstick with both hands.

Then with all the arm strength she could muster, she pulled herself up the flying broomstick, and climbed onto it.

"STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Reimu continued to scream as she tries and fails to fend off Kurumi.

"Hang in there!" Marisa calls out to Reimu. She then flies toward the shrine maiden trainee as fast as she could.

Kurumi notices Marisa approaching. The bat Youkai ceases her attack on Reimu, and takes on her humanoid form to fire danmaku at the approaching witch.

Marisa didn't bother to dodge. She allows herself to get hit, grunting with each danmaku that hits her, as she flies straight toward Kurumi with increased speed.

With an audible thud, the tip of Marisa's flying broomstick collides with Kurumi, pushing her away from Reimu.

Marisa took this chance to pull out her magic wand and points it at Kurumi's face point blank.

"Bite this,  _bitch_!" The witch declares, before beginning to cast a spell. "BURN!"

A fireball erupted from the tip of Marisa's wand, which then blasted Kurumi off the broomstick toward the surface of the blood-red lake, leaving a trail of smoke in her wake.

Reimu hasn't noticed that Kurumi has been knocked out, and has to be told by Marisa before she calmed down.

Reimu hugged Marisa tightly after what she just went through. "Marisa, that was so terrifying!" She says while crying.

"Its okay! I kicked her butt for you!" Marisa says. "You were afraid of bats?" The witch takes the opportunity to ask.

"I just...found their sharp fangs...and their nocturnal habit...very terrifying..." Reimu, still crying from the traumatic experience, explains.

Marisa felt like she is about to pass out (due to taking the full brunt of Kurumi's final danmaku attack), so she quickly tapped herself with her magic wand, casting a spell that restored her stamina as well as Reimu's.

"Its alright." Marisa comforts Reimu. "We'll just find whoever's responsible for this Incident, shoot'em in the face, and get back home as quickly as possible. Ya okay with that?"

Reimu releases her tight hug on Marisa, and sniffed. "Thank you..." She says with gratitude.

Marisa replies with a nod. She then turns toward the western mansion and the sunflower field surrounding it.

"Then onward to that place, I tell ya!"

* * *

And that concludes Vs Kurumi.

Were you surprised that Reimu turned out to be afraid of bats? Well, this is one of my many ways of defeating the "invincible Reimu" phenomenon that seemed to run in many battle-centric comedy fics, and I sure as heck don't want Reimu to curb stomp everyone she meets that isn't an ordinary human.

About Genji and Mima knowing Yuuka...Let's just say they go a long way back. Same for Mima knowing Shinki (even though we haven't reached the  _Mystic Square_  are yet).

So next up, we'll be having Reimu and Marisa reaching the Garden of the Sun, where they'll have to fight Elly before gaining access to Mugenkan.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	55. Two Different Types of Green

"Ya okay there?" Marisa asks Reimu who just recovered from Kurumi triggering her fear of bats.

"I'm fine..." Reimu answers. "Thanks..."

"If anything, I'm gonna make sure ya ain't gonna meet another bat, ever again!" Marisa tells the shrine maiden trainee.

...

**Garden of the Sun**

The two girls kept on flying until they've reached the sunflower field. By then, the sun has already begun to set.

The field isn't much when seen from a distance. But seen up close, it is so massive that the village's farmlands pale in comparison, with the furthest point of the sunflower field stopping just short of the horizon. A western-looking mansion can be seen standing in the center of the field.

The field itself is also crawling with fairies, including several Doom Fairies.

"So many Doom Fairies..." Reimu shrugged. She clearly remembers how her first encounter with just one went.

"Miss Mima once trained me and the others by pittin' us against one of 'em, so I can relate to ya..." Marisa agrees.

The two girls then proceed into the sunflower field slowly, hoping to be able to reach the western mansion without drawing the attention of the Doom Fairies.

In their slow but steady pace of flying forward, neither Reimu nor Marisa noticed that several pair of eyes are watching them from among the sunflowers...

...

**Mima's House**

The moment Mima enters her hideout, she immediately took note of some extra things that weren't around when she was here several hours ago.

"What happened here?" The evil spirit asks the apprentice witches that are still sticking around, as she pokes the withering husk a large thorny vine that seems to have overgrown the hideout before something stopped its growth.

The apprentice witches stood in a line in front of Mima. They all appear have sustained minor cuts while dealing with the thorny vine earlier.

"I...uh...spilled some potions on the rose bush..." One of the apprentice witches explains, looking down in embarrassment.

Mima cocked her eyebrows. "You again, Ako? You are such a troublemaker..." She shakes her head in disappointment, then sighs.

"We tried to deal with it, as per Miss Marisa's suggestion to use Coldfire..." Fey speaks up. She then pulls her witch hat down, covering her eyes with the brim.

"...But the Coldfire spread faster than we anticipated, and..." Rey finishes the explanation. Like her twin sister, she pulls her witch hat down to cover her eyes in embarrassment.

Mima looks around the mess left in the hideout. "That explains the significant decrease in the magical miasma around here." She notes.

The apprentice witches all bowed apologetically. "We're sorry, Miss Mima!" They all say in unison.

Mima sighs again. "But at least you girls solved both problems without me this time." She then adds. "That is an improvement from the usual..."

The apprentice witches did remained in bowing position.

"I won't punish you this time, so just stand straight and go clean up the pl..." Mima tells the apprentice witches, but paused when she notices something peculiar. "Wait, just the five of you? Where are the others aside from Marisa?"

One of the apprentice witches raised her head. "Um..." She seemed hesitant to speak.

Mima takes notice of the hesitation. "You got something to say, Markle?"

The apprentice witch, Markle, hesitated for a few more seconds. "They..."

"They what?" Mima became suspicious. "It isn't like you to hesitate, Markle. Just say it..."

"They were jealous about how kindly you treated Miss Marisa..." Markle bursts out. "So after you sent her to retrieve that source of powerful magic, they all stormed out, proclaiming that they'll get to it before she does!"

...

**Garden of the Sun**

Reimu and Marisa managed to make it halfway through the sunflower field toward the western mansion without being seen by the fairies. It helps that the fairies are busy fooling around and playing with each other (even the Doom Fairies).

"Lucky for us, fairies a bunch of eggheads." Marisa comments softly.

"Thank the gods for that..." Reimu adds, also softly.

The two decided to take cover under the sunflowers when they notice a group of Sunflower Fairies approaching their position. The Sunflower Fairies passed by without noticing them, continuing with whatever they are doing. Reimu wondered where they got their sunflowers.

 _Why'd they need so many sunflowers for? Fight zombies?_  Marisa thought.

Reimu and Marisa then resumes slowly making their way toward the western mansion. With the fairies still busy playing around, the two are able to sneak through the sunflower field without being seen, now getting close enough to see the mansion's front gate which appears to be unguarded.

 _Almost there..._  Both girls thought, the moment tense as they slowly closed the distance between themselves and the front gate...

"Miss Marisa...?" Several voices suddenly rung out from behind Reimu and Marisa. These voices weren't trying to be discreet at all.

Reimu and Marisa both paused.

"There's something familiar 'bout those voice..." Marisa remarks.

"Friends of yours?" Reimu asks the witch.

Marisa seems to swallow hard. "Friends? I don't think so..."

Both girls turned around, and saw a group of apprentice witches dressed not to differently than Marisa. However, their angry face and folded arms - each with one hand holding a magic wand or staff - indicate hostile intents.

"H-hey, guys. H-how it's goin'?" Marisa nervously asks them.

One of them took a step forward. "Step aside,  _teacher's pet_." She threatened. "You too, shrine maiden."

Reimu fully understood the purpose of that threat. "Some rivalry you have there, Marisa..." She says as she raises her hands empty.

"Should've seen the jealousy coming when one of 'em tripped me three days ago..." Marisa remarks, before doing the same.

Reimu and Marisa, both with their hands raised in the air, stepped to the side as demanded.

The jealous apprentice witches are not satisfied yet. "Now, leave this place,  _bitch_."

Marisa squinted upon hearing that. "Jeez, that's very toxic..." She remarks. "Alright, alright, we'll leave. C'mon, Reimu..."

Without another word said, Marisa grabbed Reimu's hand. The both of them slowly walked back toward the direction they came from. The jealous witches had their magic wands and staves trained at the duo for the duration.

"How did you guys get past the bat Youkai at the lake before us?" Marisa took the opportunity to ask the jealous witches.

" _None_  of your business." One of the jealous witches replies with a snarl.

Marisa sneers, as she and Reimu continues to slowly walk away from the scene.

"Marisa, are we just going to let them do whatever they want with...whatever sent that Bewitched Lotus to my place?" Reimu whispered to the witch.

"Don'tcha sweat. I've got a plan..." Marisa whispers back. She gently shook her free hand a couple of times. "Fly up when I give the signal."

With the shaking, a small spherical flask fell out of Marisa's sleeve, and landed on the ground with a soft thud.

All of a sudden, Marisa lifted her left feet up, and stomped on the spherical flask hard, snapping its glass bottleneck with a loud crack.

The jealous witches all jumped upon hearing the cracking sound.

"Reimu, now!" Marisa yelled out.

Taking that as the signal, Reimu quickly launched herself into the air, taking Marisa with her.

The content of the spherical flask suddenly exploded in a cloud of cold white mist, with only a few of the jealous witches managing to jump out of the way in time. When the mist fades away, it is revealed that ones who didn't manage to evade it have been frozen solid, with icicles pointing away from the center of the cold explosion.

Reimu immediately recognized that cold explosion, having seen another example of it very recently. "That was the same thing you killed that Bewitched Lotus, with, isn't it?"

Marisa pulls her flying broomstick out of her hat, then hops onto it. "Yep. Although it ain't supposed to be fatal to any living thing."

The remaining jealous witches also pulled out their flying broomsticks, which they mounted on before giving chase to Reimu and Marisa, while firing spells after spells at them.

Unsurprisingly, the commotion has also drawn the attention of the fairies dotted all over the sunflower field. They all broke off from their games and are headed straight for the spot.

"This is gonna be tough, Reimu!" Marisa says, pulling out her magic wand as she fires back at the jealous witches.

"I was hoping to  _not_  have to fight another one of those Doom Fairies again!" Reimu complains as she pulls out her gohei and fires at the approaching fairies.

...

**???**

"Sorry, milady. Am I disturbing your sleep?"

"No, you didn't. I only just climbed on the bed."

"I see..."

"Is there something you want to tell me about?"

"There are several humans trespassing on the Garden of the Sun."

"..."

"Milady, would you like me to go deal with them?"

"..."

"Lady Kazami?"

"Try to scare them away. I don't want any deaths anywhere near my home."

"Yes, milady..."

* * *

Mima, you oughtta get rid of your habit of favoring Marisa over all of your other pupils. Some of them are so jealous, they've practically become fully hostile to her.

And yeah, nothing else to say here, other than that this version of Yuuka is NOT sadistic in any way. Here, she's the kind of person who'd avoid outright fatality as much as possible. Doesn't mean you can mess with her, though...

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords end here..._


	56. Hate-Colored Magic

**Garden of the Sun**

Never has a three-way battle between two girls, a swarm of fairies, and a group of jealousy-motivated witches been this massive.

Reimu evades a barrage of danmaku fired at her by a pair of Sunflower Fairies, then shoots them down with her own. "Marisa, I could use some help here!" She yells out as she turns around to fly away from a Doom Fairy that has started to pursue her.

"No can do! I'm a little busy here!" Marisa yells back, while having an aerial dogfight against her jealousy-motivated former classmates.

Luckily for both Reimu and Marisa, the fairies and jealous witches are against each other as well as the duo, so the two opposing sides end up putting more attention on each other than on them. However, the fairies and jealous witches that do focus on them aren't exactly weaklings.

Reimu narrowly avoids a thin laser beam fired by the Doom Fairy that is chasing her. The thin laser beam continued on its way, slicing off several sunflowers and even friendly firing a few fairies by accident. The shrine maiden trainee returns fire, but her danmaku have no effect on the Doom Fairy.

Marisa isn't having it any better on her side either. Unlike every enemy she's faced so far, the jealous witches actually bothers to evade attacks (albeit not as good at it as Reimu or Marisa) or raise a magic shield to block off those they know they can't dodge. They are also more aggressive with their danmaku attacks, forcing Marisa to pay more attention on them than on where she is going (which led to her almost crashing into the ground or a fairy at times).

Reimu hatches a plan in her mind. "Marisa, come toward me!" She yells out while avoiding the Doom Fairy's thin laser beam.

"What?" Marisa doesn't understand what Reimu is planning. The witch dodges a pair of fireballs that two of the jealous witches fired at her, then retaliates with a blast of mid-sized orb danmaku, knocking a jealous witch off her flying broomstick.

"Just come toward me!" Reimu repeats, as she launches the Ying-Yang Orb at the Doom Fairy chasing her. The Doom Fairy is knocked out by the magical projectile, but is immediately replaced by two Doom Fairies.

Hoping whatever plan Reimu came up with actually works, Marisa changes her flight path and heads for the shrine maiden trainee.

Seeing Marisa coming toward her, Reimu also changes her flight path and heads straight for the witch.

Marisa now understands what Reimu is planning. She smirked as she sped up, heading straight toward the shrine maiden trainee while two more jealous witches joined the group chasing her, still unaware of the plan.

The two Doom Fairies chasing Reimu fired thin laser beams at her, which she dodges. Marisa also notices the beams, and dodges them in time, which resulted in two of the jealous witches taking direct hits, knocking them out instantly.

The lead jealous witch (the one who threatened Reimu and Marisa earlier) caught on with what Reimu and Marisa are planning. She broke formation, and turned away without anyone noticing.

Then Reimu and Marisa passed by each other, getting so close they could get a clear look of the other's eyes, and dived down immediately afterwards.

The Doom Fairies and jealous witches realizes too late that they have been lured into a trap, and are unable to save themselves as momentum carried them into one another, resulting in a collision that knocked both sides out of the sky.

"Now that's what I'd call a face-to-face!" Marisa declares, then gives Reimu a thumbs up.

Reimu groaned, perhaps at the witch's pun. "That was a lame one, Marisa..." She deadpans.

The two then notices a huge pack of fairies approaching them.

"We'll talk about it later. There's more of them coming." Reimu says.

"That's a lotta 'em!" Marisa exclaims. "How the heck are we gonna beat 'em?"

"We don't." Reimu responds. "They far outnumber the pack we encountered back at Okazaki Yumemi's ship..."

Marisa looks at the approaching swarm and gulped. "So, we...?"

"...Make a run for the mansion!" Reimu says before she turns around and heads straight for the western mansion.

"Wha...?!" Marisa is a little slow at processing what she just heard. Though it took her only a brief moment to get it. "Hey! Wait for me!" The witch yells out as she follows Reimu.

And so, with a swarm of fairies hot on their trails, Reimu and Marisa made a beeline for the western mansion that started the whole mess in the first place.

Suddenly, the bristle of Marisa's flying broomstick catches fire for no apparent reason.

"What?! Oh crap!" Marisa exclaims when she notices the fire. The witch quickly points her magic wand at the fire, and puts it out with a water spell. "Whew, that was a close one..." She breathes a sigh of relief afterwards.

Then the flying broomstick stalls...

"Oh, you've gotta be ki-" Marisa uttered before she begins to plunge toward the ground uncontrollably.

"Marisa!" Reimu notices, as she flies toward the witch in an attempt to catch her before she hits the ground.

"Help me! I can't fly on my own!" Marisa cries out while falling toward the ground uncontrollably. The wind had blown her hat off her head.

As Reimu flew as fast as she could to reach Marisa, she notices that fireballs danmaku are being fired at her from behind. The shrine maiden trainee looks behind her, and sees that the lead jealous witch is the shooter, shooting at both her and Marisa with an expression full of furious malice.

 _She probably set Marisa's broom on fire..._  Reimu puts the pieces together.

Disabling her flight powers, Reimu allowed herself to enter a state of free-fall, as she spun around to face the lead jealous witch. The shrine maiden trainee then fires danmaku at the lead jealous witch.

...

**Front Gate, Mugenkan**

"So it seems...

It has been a very long time since the last trespasser...

I wonder what it'll take to drive these two away without killing them?"

...

Somehow, the lead jealous witch is able to land a direct hit on Marisa's broom moments ago, yet have trouble landing a hit on Reimu despite the shrine maiden trainee not doing much dodging and is free-falling like Marisa is.

After trading fires with Reimu for what felt like a minute, the lead jealous witch took a hit to her abdomen, and fell off of her flying broomstick as she yelped in pain.

With the lead jealous witch dealt with, Reimu turned her focus back on Marisa, as she makes a dive toward the falling witch.

"Hurry up, Reimu! I'm about to hit the ground!" Marisa cries out.

Reimu sped up her dive toward Marisa, and caught the witch before she its the ground. Then she exerts much of her powers to flight in order to slow the descend as much as possible.

Though at the speed in which they are falling, Reimu and Marisa still ended up hitting the ground hard despite the former trying her best to slow it. Thankfully the impact isn't hard enough to inflict any injuries.

Momentum caused the two girls to roll a bit of distance on the ground before coming to a halt.

"Marisa," Reimu says while panting heavily. "you need to learn how to fly  _on your own_..."

Marisa slowly raised her right hand. "But then it won't be witch-y at all..." She replies dryly.

Reimu rolls her eyes at hearing that reply. "Aren't some of your friends capable of flying on her own?"

Marisa laughed softly. "I dunno. Ask 'em."

The two girls got up from the ground and dusted their clothes clean. Marisa notices her witch hat draped on top of a nearby sunflower, so she went and shook the sunflower until the hat fell off, which she then grabs and places on her head.

"Now let's get inside before the fairies reach us." Reimu says, noting the swarm of fairies that are still approaching.

"Yeah, let's." Marisa agrees.

Just as the two starts walking toward the western mansion's front gate, a bolt of electricity shot past them, hitting one of the stone pillars that stood next to the gate.

Reimu and Marisa instinctively turned around, their weapons at hand, to see that it is the lead jealous witch, her left hand pressed against the part of her abdomen that was shot, and her right hand holding a magic wand that is cackling with electricity.

"Stop...right...there...teacher's...pet!" The lead jealous witch demanded, her voice sounding like she is snarling furiously. The swarm of fairies approaching from behind her made the moment seem so much more intense.

"You might be a human," Reimu tells the lead jealous witch. "but your determination surpassed even that of a Youkai..."

"All this just so Miss Mima notices you?" Marisa asks her. "It's worth literally killin' me over for?"

The lead jealous witch coughed once. "You...don't...understand...how...bad...being...ignored...feels...like!" As she speaks, a single tear can be seen coming out of her left eye. "I...ran...from...home...because...my...parents...ignored...me..." She coughed again. "I didn't...go to...Miss Mima...to get...ignored...again!"

Reimu felt a little bit bad after hearing that, as she glances toward Marisa. "She had it even worse than you..."

The lead jealous witch lowered her wand briefly. "All I want...is...attention...even if...it means..." As she pauses, she suddenly raised her magic wand again, this time with bolts of lightning practically arcing out of it like a thundercloud. "FUL...MI...NIS..." She screamed loudly as she chants a spell.

Reimu and Marisa both prepared to shoot the lead jealous witch...

...Only for her spell to be interrupted when something slashed right across her back vertically. With the spell interrupted, her magic wand stopped producing electricity before she collapses on her knees, then her face on the ground, revealing a clean slice on the upper half of the back of her witch outfit that went from the waist portion to the collar in a perfectly straight line.

"Huh?!" Both Reimu and Marisa uttered in unison as they try to process what just happened.

That same thing then proceeds to steer itself into the swarm of fairies, slashing through a large number of them like a hot knife through butter (with some even exploding as they get hit). After that thing slashed across the entire swarm, the surviving fairies can be heard shouting something before they retreated by scattering toward all direction except the western mansion where Reimu and Marisa are.

"What just happened?" Reimu asks.

"Beats me..." Marisa answers.

The two crouched down when they notice the object flying toward them, then above their heads as it flies past them. In that brief moment of it being so close, Reimu and Marisa could see that the object is actually a spinning scythe. They turned toward where the spinning scythe is headed to keep track of it...

...And finds it being caught in the left hand of woman standing at the mansion's front gate, who wasn't there just a moment ago.

"I happened..." The woman announces.

* * *

And here's Elly rescuing Reimu and Marisa at the last possible second.

Jealousy can be such a powerful motivation to do something bad, especially if its jealousy from someone who desired attention, at someone else being a teacher's pet. The lead jealous witch may have been taking it too far by wanting to kill Marisa (and Reimu), but she (and some of her friends) kind of deserved some sympathy after you find out  _why_  they tried to do that. I mean, Marisa  _at least_  still has attention from her father even as she ran away from home, whereas the lead jealous witch ran from home because she's  _never had any_.

Next time: Reimu and Marisa fights Elly to gain entry into Mugenkan.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterwords end here._


	57. Dance Off

**Front Gate, Mugenkan**

Standing in front of the western mansion's front gate and facing Reimu and Marisa, is a western-looking woman with yellow eyes, yellow hair, and wears a pink hat with a red ribbon. She also wears a dark red dress with a frilled white collar, and is carrying a scythe.

**Gatekeeper of the Dreams**

**Elly**

"Who the heck are ya?" Marisa asks.

"You're the owner of this mansion?" Reimu also asks.

The woman let her scythe literally disappear into thin air before replying to the two girls, "My name is Elly. I am the gatekeeper of this mansion, not its owner, that would be my mistress."

Reimu and Marisa both stared at Elly for a brief moment. Meanwhile, the charred remains of Marisa's flying broomstick lands behind the two girls with a soft thud.

"I thought gatekeepers were supposed to look intimidating?" Reimu wonders.

"But ya look like a ballroom dancer..." Marisa points out.

"But am I?" Elly says in an intimidating tone as she stares at the shrine maiden trainee and the witch with a similarly intimidating look. She then puts her left hand on her hip, and does a finger-snap with her right. "Few had ever managed to make it past Kurumi..."

"Which we just did..." Reimu decides to cut in.

"No,  _I_  did." Marisa corrects the shrine maiden trainee. "Ya got scared the heck outta ya wits by her bat form."

Elly resumes speaking without breaking her stride. "...Those who does, and reaches me, never got any further past." She does another finger-snap. "Have you got the wits to..." She continues speaking as she takes a step forward...

...Only to slip on the smooth and shiny ceramic floor tile that decorated the front of the gate, landing on her face.

Any tense feeling Reimu and Marisa had in regards to Elly being intimidating has just been ruined by the hilarity of her slipping.

"Bet ya ain't expectin' that..." Marisa remarks.

"You were pretty intimidating at first. But then this happens." Reimu also remarks.

Elly picks herself up from the floor, then dusts her hat clean before putting it back on. "Oh, that is a glorious moment ruined by a literal  _bloody_  slip-up!" She complains in a normal person's tone, abandoning the intimidating one she used earlier. "I had the whole  _bloody_  scene planned out!"

"Well, there's your problem." Marisa mocks the gatekeeper.

"Marisa, she has a scythe, and you saw how she took out your ex-classmate and the swarm of fairies in one go with it..." Reimu warns the witch. "Do take her seriously, please."

Elly makes her scythe reappear, her right hand gripping it. "Like that purple-haired girl said, you'd want to take me seriously, even if I've just made a fool of myself." She twirls the scythe. "My mistress wanted me to scare you away. But since you two aren't scared, I guess I have no choice but to  _bloody_  blow you away!"

With that said, Elly proceeds to do another finger-snap with her left hand. As if on cue, tiles are ripped right off the ceramic floor by seemingly nothing, and then starts orbiting around the gatekeeper.

"Okay, now we're gettin' serious..." Marisa remarks with a grin, raising her magic wand and preparing to cast a spell in anticipation of an attack.

Reimu notices Marisa grinning. "Are you grinning at the fact that a woman who carries a scythe and lift things up without actually touching them is going to attack us?!" The shrine maiden trainee exclaims as she gets ready to fight.

Marisa briefly turns toward Reimu, and winks at her. "Nope. I'm grinnin' cos I'm goin' to get..."

The witch's statement was interrupted by Elly flinging a floor tile at her face, knocking her on her back.

"Your  _arse_  kicked?" Elly sarcastically continues Marisa's statement.

Reimu initially is a bit worried by Marisa being hit by that attack. But upon seeing that the witch is getting up with no worse for the wear, she became deadpan.

"I guess all those headbutts you received from Kamishirasawa- _sensei_  has made your head hard as a magical rock..." The shrine maiden trainee says.

Marisa wipes the ceramic dust off her face. "Guess I owe the teach one, I tell ya." She says to Reimu. She then turns toward Elly. "And nope, I'm gonna get to kick your  _ass_!"

Elly doesn't wait for any punchlines to follow that. She proceeds to throw the rest of the floor tiles at the two girls.

Reimu and Marisa shoots out the floor tiles with their danmaku. After taking out the floor tiles, they then put their attention on Elly, firing danmaku at her.

Elly holds her scythe out in front of her and then spins it like a windmill, which acted as a shield that deflected the danmaku.

"You've beaten Kurumi. I would like to see just how good you are..." The gatekeeper says as she stops spinning her scythe.

Then she throws her scythe at Reimu.

Reimu dodges the flying scythe by taking off into the air, then tosses several Ofuda at Elly while she is unarmed.

Elly deflects the Ofuda barrage by using the same ability she levitated the floor tiles with.

"I'm guessin' anything physical ain't gonna work with her, so..." Marisa tells Reimu as she fires a burst of danmaku at Elly.

Elly did not dodge or deflect the danmaku barrage, allowing every shot to hit her right on. However, the gatekeeper didn't even flinch, simply shrugging off the shots like they were nothing.

"And the ones she doesn't deflect just plain doesn't work on her..." Marisa deadpans at the disappointing result.

But Elly certainly notices being shot, as she redirects her thrown scythe at the witch.

"Marisa, look out!" Reimu shouts as she goes to tackle Marisa onto the ground just in time to avoid getting hit by the flying scythe.

"Thanks for the save!" Marisa thanked as she stands back up.

Elly catches the flying scythe as it reaches her. "You two seem to be pretty close to one another, actually." She points out to the girls, while still having the intention to beat them.

Reimu and Marisa turns back toward Elly. "Not always..." The former says.

"Stand aside, Reimu..." Marisa says. "I'm gonna bring out the big spells..."

The witch then does a finger-snap of her own, which summoned forth a quartet of familiar-looking multicolored orbs.

"Oh, this." Reimu remarks, recalling that time when she fought Marisa, and the latter used this exact spell against her.

"Say hello to my little friend: the new-and-improved Orreries' Solar System!" Marisa hams it up, before using the multicolored orbs to unleash a large amount of danmaku and lasers on Elly.

Once again, Elly spins her scythe to deflect the danmaku barrage. But this barrage turned out to be too dense, and the gatekeeper's defense is eventually overwhelmed, with danmaku slipping through and pelting her all over her body.

Elly staggers a few steps backward after her failed defense, but despite that she is still relatively unscathed.

"Whoa. She's tough..." Marisa says dully.

"You broke through my  _bloody_  defence. I'm impressed, actually." Elly remarks, her different western accent made more obvious by how she pronounces a word. "I might have to up the ante a little bi..."

The gatekeeper was interrupted by Reimu quickly rushing forward and attempting close quarter combat with her. The two's weapons locked in place as they blocked each other's blows. Reimu initially is able to push Elly back, but the latter turned out to be able to exert much more force than the slenderness of her arms would suggest (though she probably has her telekinesis backing it up) as she begins to push Reimu back with overwhelming force.

"Marisa, I need some help here!" Reimu shouts out.

Marisa takes aim at Elly, but couldn't get a clear shot due to Reimu being in the way. "Not without hitting you!" She says. "Dang, I wish Miss Mima had taught me something better..."

As she laments, an idea suddenly comes to the witch's mind.

"Keep her busy, Reimu! I've got an awesome idea..." Marisa announces, as she starts using her magic wand to draw a magic circle.

"I'm trying my best to!" Reimu responds back.

Of course, Elly notices Marisa saying that. Not taking any chances, the gatekeeper levitates some more floor tiles to throw at Marisa, while keeping Reimu locked in a standoff.

Marisa panicked upon seeing the floor tiles heading toward her. "Whoa! Not good!" Without ceasing her drawing the magic circle, she fires danmaku from the multicolored orbs at the floor tiles. She quickly finishes drawing the magic circle, only for it to fade away without doing anything.

Reimu, still locked in a standoff with Elly, cocked her eyebrows when she notices the failure. "Is that your 'awesome idea'?"

"Nope." Marisa awkwardly answers, while simultaneously using the multicolored orbs to blast away the floor tiles Elly flings at her. "I missed that  _one_  rune  _again_..."

"Then try to remember it!" Reimu calls out. The shrine maiden trainee is now pushed so far down that her back is almost touching the floor.

"I'm tryin'!" Marisa responds, blasting away more flung floor tiles. "Darn, I could use a Eureka right..."

The witch paused mid-sentence as a thought came to her.

"...now." She finishes with a grin. "Now I remember!" She cheerfully announces, as she begins drawing another magic circle, this time at twice the speed.

"Then hurry!" Reimu calls out again. "I can't hold her back anymore!"

With that said, Reimu's legs gave way as she fell on her back, which allowed Elly to break free of the standoff.

The gatekeeper raised her scythe, then brought its sharp blade down on Reimu, who managed to raise her gohei to block it. However, Reimu has already used up much of her arm strength in the standoff, so she's barely able to hold back Elly as the scythe inches closer and closer to her neck with each passing second. "You overestimated your capabilities, girl..." Elly taunts.

"Marisa!" Reimu cried out in panic, coming to the realization that if something doesn't happen right now, her throat will be slit open.

"Hang on, I'm almost done!" Marisa responds, as she is about to put the finishing touches on the magic circle. There is just one last rune to draw on it.

Then Elly decides to start gathering the ceramic rubble from the shattered floor tiles and slowly form them into one giant spike. The spike is pointed at Marisa, with its intended use very obvious.

"Not good! NOT GOOD!" Marisa started to panic as well upon seeing the giant spike. She quickly goes to finish up the magic circle by drawing the last rune on it. "C'mon, this better work, else I'll be skewered...!"

Thankfully for the witch, she did the magic circle right this time, as it starts glowing a bright white. Just in time too, as Elly finishes forming the giant spike and flings it at her.

"Heck yeah!" Marisa announces excitedly. "Elly, here's something for ya!" She shouts out as she moves the multicolored orbs into position between her and the magic circle.

Reimu doesn't need to be told by anyone to know that she should get out of the way of whatever Marisa is about to unleash. Raising her right leg, she kicked Elly in the face, causing the gatekeeper to stagger backward, giving the shrine maiden trainee a chance to get up and move out of the way.

"Feel the rainbow, you overdressed scythe lady!" Marisa declares loudly, as the multicolored orbs begin to glow in unison with the magic circle. "MASTER SPARK!"

With that, a massive rainbow-colored laser erupted from the magic circle, obliterating everything in its way including the giant spike.

Elly could only watch with wide-eyed horror as the massive laser approaches her direction very quickly...

...

"Why would Mima teach you a spell that can carve a hole clean through a mountain?!"

Reimu exclaims as she inspects the aftermath of Marisa's massive laser attack, which includes a charred and unconscious Elly in tattered clothes and messy hair, lying in the middle of the path that the massive laser carved into the floor.

The front gate itself weathered the massive laser (presumably due to a reinforcement ward on it), but still sustained so much damage it looked like it could collapse at any moment.

"I dunno..." Marisa shrugs. "Ask Miss Mima yourself..."

Before anything else can be said, Marisa suddenly takes her crystal orb out from under her hat, and looks into it. Apparently she is being called again.

"Who's there?" The witch says as she answers the call.

The image of Mima appeared inside the crystal orb. "It is I, Marisa." Mima answers. "Are you alright there?"

Marisa scanned her surroundings, noting both the still-unconscious jealous witch and the aftermath of the Master Spark.

"Everything's a-okay, thanks for askin'." The witch says.

Mima notices the aftermath of the Master Spark behind Marisa, and smirks. "I see you've finally got the circle correct..."

Marisa laughs a little bit in response. "Of course, it took a Eureka moment for me to..."

Reimu decides to interrupt the conversation by hijacking the crystal orb. "There is something I want to ask first, you evil spirit..."

"Oh, hello, Reimu..." Mima's response to the hijacking is rather dull.

Reimu points at the destruction caused by the Master Spark on the mansion's front gate, at the same time one of the door handles detaches and falls on what is left of the flooring with a soft thud. "Explain to me  _why_  you taught Marisa something that can do  _this_?"

Mima doesn't answer the question. "Sorry, I have my other pupils to take care of." She says in denial of the question asked.

Just as the evil spirit look like she is about to end the call, something made her stop, to say one last thing.

"And for the two of you..." Mima suddenly became tense. "Be careful when inside that mansion..."

And with that, the call is ended, causing the crystal orb to become transparent again.

Reimu and Marisa, both confused about the cryptic warning, turns toward each other.

"Be careful...?" "Of what? And why?"

As the two girls are pondering, the frame of the mansion's front gate gave way, causing the gate itself to fall over, right on top of Elly just as she appears to be coming to.

The two girls take a look at what is behind the gate, and their jaws dropped so far as to almost detach from their heads.

"What. Is. THAT?!"

* * *

An extra long chapter for a battle against Elly, culminating in Marisa using an altered version of her iconic Master Spark to put down the gatekeeper and win the fight, as well as blasting the front gate of Mugenkan down.

Is Elly speaking with a British accent? Why, yes, of course! Though it shouldn't come as a surprise anymore, due to Takerfoxx's  _Imperfect Metamorphosis_ also portraying her as British.

And before you point it out... No, this version of Yuuka does  _NOT_  know Master Spark. Here, Marisa learned her iconic spell from Mima instead of ripping it off from Yuuka. And though she did it without the Mini-Hakkero here, you can see just how impractical in execution this method is, something that Marisa would've fixed by the time the  _EoSD_  arc begins in  _Young Maiden's Chronicles 2_ , which I'm going to work on once  _YMC 1_  concludes.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterwords end here..._


	58. A Twist in the Story

**?**

"That must be the sound of Elly getting beaten...

This has never happened before...

Whoever the trespassers are, they were more powerful than I expected.

But why did they come here?

Does it have to do with the power of  _it_?"

...

**Front Gate, Mugenkan**

Reimu and Marisa found themselves looking at what they can only describe to be a completely vertical water surface that stretched across the entire door frame. The surface is emitting a glow bright enough as to render it opaque.

"That certainly ain't normal..." Marisa remarks.

Reimu gripped her gohei tightly. "This is where the culprit is hiding out..." She comments. "Could the culprit be a sadist, or someone trying to prove their wicked point..."

"Or just bein' a plain ol' moron..." Marisa offers an option.

Somehow, Reimu felt that it is an entirely possible scenario in which the culprit of the Incident is simply too stupid to understand the consequences of whatever they are doing right now. "Maybe. Maybe not. Nobody knows..." She points out, then takes the lead as she approaches the vertical water surface.

Marisa follows the shrine maiden trainee from behind.

Reimu stopped before the vertical water surface. She then raises her gohei, and slowly penetrates the surface with it. On withdrawing the gohei, Reimu notices that it is still dry. "This isn't really water, just look like it." The shrine maiden trainee remarks.

Marisa lightly taps the surface with a finger. It too came out dry. "So, a portal?"

"Only one way to find out..." Reimu says, then walks right into the vertical water surface.

...

**Main Hall, Mugenkan**

Stepping through the surface, Reimu reemerges to find herself looking down a long and fancy hallway with intricate patterns all over. Down the middle of the hallway is a straight line of red checkerboard-patterned ceramic tiles, with humanoid-looking statues lining up either side of it. A very fancy mansion stairway lies at the end of the hallway.

Marisa steps through the surface and emerges in the same hallway. "Whoa. Whoever's living here sure picked a nice place to settle down." She remarks.

"Typical for a villain..." Reimu says while scanning the details of the hallway.

Marisa crosses her arms as she stares at one of the statues. "Heh. I wonder where and how did the homeowner get all these fancy-lookin' stuff?"

Something suddenly caught the witch's sight.

"Hey, Reimu..." Marisa says as she walks toward the shrine maiden trainee and tugs on one of her sleeves. "Izzit me, or did something just move behind that statue?"

Reimu perked up in reaction to that. "Where?" She asked as she held her gohei up instinctively.

Marisa points at one of the statues with her magic wand. "Right there..."

All of a sudden, something darted out from behind that statue and began firing danmaku at the girls.

"Holy...!" Marisa exclaimed as she crouches down to avoid the danmaku.

Reimu dodges the danmaku by taking off into the air, then shoots back at the enemy.

The enemy was very fragile. It took just a few hits before going out in a puff of smoke.

With danger gone (for now), Marisa stood up and looked at where the enemy was. "What was that just now?"

Reimu descends and lands next to Marisa. "I didn't take a close look at it, but it looked like a black blob with a yellow circle for what I think is a face..."

Marisa kept staring at that spot for a few seconds, before throwing a series of punches at where the enemy was. "Izzat all ya got, huh!" The witch taunted.

As if on cue, several more of the same black blobs emerged from everywhere in the hall.

"You just had to jinx it,  _Genevieve_..." Reimu complains to Marisa.

"Hey!" Marisa is more offended by being called her middle name.

The black blobs doesn't wait any longer, as they all open fire on the girls without second thoughts (though as non-corporeal blobs, it is unlikely they even have minds).

Reimu takes off into the air again as she begins shooting back at the black blobs.

Marisa, unable to fly without her broomstick, had to run for the nearest pillar to take cover, hoping that she doesn't get hit as she shoots at the black blobs. "We're gonna talk 'bout this later!" She tells Reimu as she blasts a black blob.

"Talk less, shoot more!" Reimu replies while dodging the black blobs' danmaku and returning fire.

...

**?**

"They are now in the mansion.

The Shadows are probably trying their best to halt them.

But they definitely won't last.

They will be here at any moment.

Are they really coming for it?

...

I need to get changed..."

...

**Main Hall, Mugenkan**

No matter how many black blobs Reimu and Marisa take out, more just keep coming at them.

"Marisa, you are really useless when you can't fly..." Reimu complains as she shoots out more black blobs and dodges the danmaku fired at her.

"Like I've got a choice!" Marisa responds, ducking behind a pillar as several black blobs fire at her position.

Reimu swats her gohei at a black blob that sneaked up behind her. "You got any better plans?" She then says to Marisa.

Marisa takes her hat off. "Ya think? Watch this!"

With that, the witch made a run for the entrance, and disappeared through the false water surface.

Reimu notices Marisa running away. "Really?!" She thought out loud, now finding herself alone against waves after waves of black blobs.

...

**Front Gate, Mugenkan**

After running out of the mansion, Marisa stopped on top of the collapsed gate to catch a breath.

"Whew, that was one heck of a shootout..." She tells herself. "I'm a sittin' duck without my flying broomstick..." She then starts looking around. "So where is it, anyway. Pretty sure it was somewhere 'round here..."

Though Marisa's search was stopped short when two Bewitching Lotuses suddenly emerged from the ground before her.

The witch took a step back, and swallowed hard. "Oh... _crap_..." She uttered.

As Marisa happened to be the closest target for the Bewitching Lotuses, both monster flowers set their supernatural senses on her before firing a mass of danmaku at her.

Marisa closed her eyes, and braced herself for the incoming attack.

Keeping her eyes tightly shut, she hears the Bewitching Lotuses' mass of danmaku impact against...something. Not her, or the ground she is standing on, but something else.

Marisa slowly opened her eyes, and is surprised by what is going on before her eyes.

It was the lead jealous witch - completely hostile toward her and Reimu only moments ago - putting herself between Marisa and the Bewitching Lotus, with a magic shield raised to deflect the mass of danmaku.

The magic shield did not discourage the Bewitching Lotuses, as they kept on firing danmaku at it.

"What the...why?" Marisa is confused by what is going on. "Weren't you just trying to kill me and Reimu moments ago?" She asks the jealous witch.

The lead jealous witch didn't reply right away. When the Bewitching Lotuses paused briefly, she dropped the magic shield for a few brief seconds to fling a spell at one of the Bewitching Lotuses, freezing it solid in ice before blowing it into pieces with another spell. The magic shield is re-raised just as the second Bewitching Lotus starts firing danmaku again.

"Everybody ran when these monster flowers suddenly appeared all over the place!" The jealous witch then replies to Marisa. "Everyone but me...and you! And your shrine maiden friend!"

The second Bewitching Lotus fired a particularly large danmaku, which impacted the magic shield with enough force to nearly knock her over, but she held on.

Marisa was just about to say something when something else made her stop. It was because she was being contacted again on her crystal orb.

It was Mima. Though unlike the previous calls, she seems to be very tense.

"Change of mission..." The evil spirit tells Marisa. "Whatever power is causing this incident...I want you and Reimu to dispose of it..."

...

**Mima's House**

"Why the change of plans?" Marisa, being displayed in Mima's crystal orb, asked from her side. "Does it has something to do with-"

Before Marisa can finish asking her question, Mima suddenly turns around to point her scepter at the door...or rather,  _what_  used to be the door, as it and the entire section of the wall around it are torn apart when a Bewitching Lotus suddenly popped out from directly under it. The shower of debris sent the apprentice witches scrambling for cover.

Mima casts a spell at the Bewitching Lotus before it can do anything. Within seconds, it burst into flames (of a magic-burning variety), and quickly withers away, disintegrating into fine dust afterwards.

" _This_  is why..." Mima points out for Marisa with an utmost serious tone.

"Because of what ya sent me to grab in the first place?" Marisa asks, still in a calm manner despite the attack over at her mentor's house, and another she herself is in the middle of right now.

"You and Reimu are the only two people there who are close enough to the power to stop it." Mima says, then suddenly turns around again to shoot down several fairies that have decided to swarm the hideout through the gaping hole created by the Bewitching Lotus. "Destroy it, seal it, send it away...so long as it cannot be used by anyone anymore."

Several Doom Fairies joined the attacking swarm. Mima casts a spell at one, but it has barely any noticeable effects. Surprised by this, Mima quickly casts a different spell that spawned a miniature tornado, blowing all the attacking fairies out of the hideout.

"You know what to do..." Mima tells Marisa before ending the call, right as an army of Doom Fairies is about to swarm the hideout...

...

**Front Gate, Mugenkan**

"Miss Mima? Miss Mima!" Marisa called out when the call ended abruptly, turning the crystal orb back to being transparent.

That is when the lead jealous witch's magic shield gave way under the intense danmaku barrage of the Bewitching Lotus, shattering like glass and knocking the lead jealous witch down.

The lead jealous witch cursed, before retaliating by throwing a flask at the Bewitching Lotus. On impact, the flask exploded in a mist of coldness. Ice spread all over the Bewitching Lotus and freezing it solid before it crumbled into tiny fragments.

"You still have a father living in the village, didn't you?" The lead jealous witch says to Marisa, then collapses on her knees. "So go stop whatever is causing all this...you heard Miss Mima..." She continues as she passes her flying broomstick to Marisa.

Marisa is reluctant to grab the broomstick. "What 'bout the attention ya always wanted?" She asks.

The lead jealous witch coughed before letting out a grin of defeat. "Heh. Can't have it if there is nobody left to get it from..." She explains.

Marisa feels kind of impressed with the lead jealous witch's sudden change of mind. "No worries..." She reassures as she takes the flying broomstick offered to her. "When this is all over, I'm gonna make sure ya have all the attention ya need!" With that, she hopped onto the flying broomstick and flew toward the gate, disappearing into the false water surface.

The lead jealous witch weakly raised her hand to wave Marisa goodbye. She turns back toward the sunflower field that the mansion's front gate faced, to find a Bewitching Lotus the size of a small hill emerging from the opposite side of it.

"Run, you clever girl, and remember..."

...

**Main Hall, Mugenkan**

Despite trying her best, there is just too many black blobs for Reimu to deal with.

"Godsdammit!" Reimu cursed as she took cover behind a statue while dozens of black blobs fired at her position. "If only Marisa would come back..." The shrine maiden trainee wished.

And that's exactly what she gets.

Marisa suddenly reemerged from the entrance, riding on a different flying broomstick. "Yeehaw! Didja miss me?" She loudly announces, then takes out the black blobs that had Reimu pinned down.

"Marisa, about time you came back!" Reimu says. "And did you steal someone else's broom  _again_?"

"I'm not stealing!" Marisa replies as she takes out more black blobs. "I'm just borrowing it!"

Reimu shoots at a black blob that Marisa missed. "Until you die?" She added while cocking her eyebrows.

"Look, can we talk later?" Marisa shrugs off the conversation as she continues shooting at the black blobs. "Ya said so yourself: less shoot, more talk. No wait, that ain't right..."

Reimu sighed. "It's 'talk less, shoot more'..."

* * *

Next up, Reimu and Marisa will be meeting Kazami Yuuka in person.

Kazami Yuuka, mind you.  _NOT_  the Ultimate Sadistic Creature. This version of Yuuka is not a sadist, like I've said before.

This interpretation of the  _Lotus Land Story_  incident seems a bit dark, isn't it? What's with this chapter implying that not resolving it will result in a lesser end-of-the-world scenario. You can blame Gengetsu and Mugetsu for that...oh, did I spill the beans? Read on if you want to know!

That lead jealous witch redeemed herself very quickly, didn't she? Good thing that she won't be stealing the spotlight from Reimu and Marisa (and neither will the apprentice witches), though she certainly did get the attention she wanted, from a certain point of view...

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	59. The Culprit, Or Not?

**Mugenkan**

"ZAP!"

With a wave of her magic wand, Marisa releases a bolt of electricity that upon hitting a black blob, immediately arcs toward another, and another, and another, racking up a huge kill count that only didn't get higher due to the limits of Marisa's magical capability.

Reimu follows the streak by sending her Ying-Yang Orb at the black blobs, taking them out like a ball knocking over pins in its way.

"Heck yeah, we're so awesome!" Marisa loudly announces while continuing to zap the black blobs with more electric arc spells.

"Marisa, we're not here to be 'awesome'!" Reimu reminds the witch as she catches the Ying-Yang Orb when it returns to her.

The girls slowly blasted their way to the stairway. Ascending through it, they find more black blobs all over the second floor, including a few that are twice the size.

They also notice the double doors at the opposite end of the second floor, which seems to be radiating a large amount of the same magic aura that the Bewitching Lotuses emitted.

"Over there!" Reimu points out. "The culprit must be behind those double doors!"

Marisa dodges a laser beam fired at her by a large black blob. "Jeez, why do the goons get stronger as we're gettin' closer to the culprit?" She then shoots back at the large black blob which, while slightly tougher than the normal-sized ones, still goes down very quickly.

"Here they come!" Reimu calls out as more large black blobs pop into existence and attacks.

...

Unbeknownst to Reimu and Marisa, the "culprit" they believe is responsible for the incident is watching them by peeking through the keyhole on one of the double doors to her room.

"So these two girls managed to best Elly. But they don't look as strong as I expected them to be. This should be interesting..."

...

The good news is that the black blobs appears to have stopped spawning more of themselves. The bad news is that there still is a huge number of them left.

"I kind of lost track on how many we've taken out by this point..." Marisa remarks as she presses on with her attacks.

"Me too." Reimu says while she does the same.

With no intentions to give up, the two slowly fought their way toward the double doors, blasting down black blobs as they moved on.

Just as the girls are about to reach the double doors, they suddenly flipped open from inside, sending out a gust of wind that dispelled the black blobs and nearly blew Reimu and Marisa over.

"Well, 'bout time!" Marisa complains as she readjusts her hat.

Reimu looked at the direction of the double doors, and sees a person standing over there. "I guess this must be our culprit..."

Standing by the doors is a woman wearing a red plaid pants and a waistcoat of an identical pattern and color over a plain white shirt. She also has long green hair, and appears to be carrying a pink parasol with flower patterns on it.

**Flower That Revolves Around The Sun**

**Kazami Yuuka**

"I guess I don't need to explain to you that I'm a Youkai..." The woman, putting on an intimidating-looking face, greets. "My name is Kazami Yuuka, and you are currently in Mugenkan, my residence."

Reimu and Marisa both looked at Yuuka for a moment, contemplating what to do and/or say about her...

"What is the matter? Is your cat borrowed?" Yuuka asks, still wearing the same intimidating look as she waits for a response.

Then Reimu speaks up. "Are you the kind that think of genocide as a game?"

That question totally shattered Yuuka's intimidating look, replacing it with that of awkward surprise. "Hmm?"

"So lemme ask ya a question first..." Marisa follows up. "Do you think blastin' people into atoms is fun?"

Yuuka practically lost her willing suspension of disbelief upon hearing that. "Wh-what kind of sentient being would do think of that?!" The Youkai blurts out awkwardly.

"Youkai tend to think that..." Reimu answers nonchalantly.

Yuuka sighs. "That is a completely unproven stereotype about us Youkai-kind..."

Reimu crosses her arms. "Then explain why fairies and lesser Youkai are going berserk all over Gensokyo?"

Yuuka seems to act surprised when told that.

"This place, AKA your home, is where all these fiasco began." Marisa adds, pointing a finger at Yuuka. "If anyone's responsible, ya the one!"

Yuuka's response is to shake her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything..."

Reimu prepares a handful of Ofuda. "Then I guess there's only one thing for me to do..." The shrine maiden trainee says.

Marisa points her magic wand at Yuuka. "And she ain't doin' it alone!" The witch chimes.

Yuuka seems, once again, surprised by the turn of events. "Wait, let me explain first!" She says as she holds out a hand.

"Too late." Reimu quips before throwing the Ofuda at Yuuka.

"I second that!" Marisa chimes in as she follows up Reimu's attack by casting a spell at Yuuka.

Acting on her instinct, Yuuka held her parasol out in front of her, and opened it, blocking all the attacks directed at her. After doing so, she closes her parasol briefly to look at Reimu and Marisa.

"Negotiation is not an option, isn't it?" Yuuka asked the girls, hoping for the best results.

"Nope." Reimu and Marisa answers together.

Yuuka sighs. "I don't want violence, but I guess I will have no choice but to play up that stereotype instead..."

As that was said, the tip of Yuuka's parasol began to glow, and so did her free hand...

* * *

And now it's time for our favorite shrine maiden (trainee) and (apprentice) witch to fight the infamous Ultimate Sadistic Creature...

...Except not. I have said in the previous chapter that this incarnation of Yuuka is  _NOT_  sadistic at all. In fact, she repulses the idea of sadism, and even calls out Reimu and Marisa for stereotyping (most) Youkai as sadists.

And the way Yuuka reacts to being told about fairies and Youkai running amok implies that she has no idea what is going on. Curious...is there a woman behind the woman?

On why this chapter came 3 weeks late, I blame my dad on insisting on taking a two week vacation (in Italy, Greece and Ireland)  _before_  heading for my sister's graduation ceremony (in Ireland).

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here..._


	60. Power/Personality Contrast

**Mugenkan**

_BOOM_

Yuuka demonstrates that she is not to be trivialized, despite her initial unwillingness to resort to violence, by firing a barrage of lasers from the tip of her parasol.

Neither Reimu nor Marisa got hit by the barrage despite both of them standing still. They do, however, note that the lasers are capable of curving mid-flight, and that Yuuka must've missed on purpose.

"Whoa, now this ain't gonna be easy." Marisa remarks. "First time I've seen someone bend laser danmaku..."

Yuuka's hand glowed again, indicating another attack being prepared. "You have no idea who you are dealing with..." She tells her opponents.

"I know who we are dealing with. We're dealing with you." Reimu answers immediately, then sends more Ofuda flying toward the Youkai.

"What a stupid question. From the mastermind of an incident, no less." Marisa reinforces Reimu's attack by firing off a large-sized danmaku at Yuuka.

Yuuka quickly raises her parasol to block the attack, before countering with the same curving laser danmaku as before, only this time they are aimed at their intended targets.

Reimu manages to dodge the curving lasers via a combination of somersaults, dives, and leans, though she still got grazed on multiple parts of her body and even took a direct hit to her left feet. Marisa has even more difficulty and less success, taking more hits than Reimu did and even nearly lost balance of her flying broomstick in the process.

Luckily for them, the curvy laser danmaku hurts less than regular danmaku. However, the stinging sensation from both grazes and direct hits linger for a bit longer than the ones from regular danmaku, and the potential of being distracted by the stings from future grazes and hits can stack up to the point of becoming disastrous. Something that Marisa seems to be aware of.

"Reimu, don't touch too many of 'em." Marisa warns the shrine maiden trainee. "Feels like a bee Youkai just stung me."

Reimu seems to get what the witch is talking about. "I don't plan on touching  _any_."

Deciding not to hold any more conversations for the time being, Reimu and Marisa both focuses on Yuuka as they unleash a barrage of danmaku on her.

Again, Yuuka uses her parasol as a shield to block the barrage. But as the continuous barrage prevents her from being able to lower her parasol, the Youkai fires curvy laser danmaku from the tip of her parasol instead.

Reimu and Marisa did not pause their attacks, as they fly as far to the sides as possible to dodge Yuuka's attack. Once again, they are not fully successful as they both received grazes.

The stinging sensation has stacked up into a numbing sensation that could not be ignored. Reimu could barely feel her left leg, and Marisa struggles to brace herself on her flying broomstick with a temporarily impaired left arm. If this fight goes on any longer, victory will be Yuuka's.

Grunting, Reimu summons the Ying-Yang Orb. Mustering whatever strength she has, she batted the Orb toward Yuuka.

Yuuka attempts to block the Ying-Yang Orb with her parasol. Unfortunately for the Youkai, the Orb struck with enough force to knock her off-balance as she stumbled backwards. Momentum from the strike also made her uncontrollably steer her parasol to her right.

With the danmaku-proof parasol out of the way, Reimu and Marisa once again focused their fires on Yuuka. With no protection this time, Yuuka took the full barrage straight on, flinching with each one that hits the Youkai.

The barrage eventually started kicking up dust, obscuring Reimu and Marisa's view of Yuuka. Deciding to play it safe, the girls pressed on with their attacks for another minute before stopping.

"Ha! I bet she's toast now!" Marisa proudly declares, as she blows the tip of her wand like its a smoking gun barrel. "Ain't got no one's gonna survive that!"

Reimu cocks her eyebrows as she turns toward Marisa. "What is your definition of 'no one' anyway?" The shrine maiden trainee asks. "Mundane humans? Lesser Youkai? Fairies?"

"I, uh, haven't worked that out yet..." The witch answers with a shrug. "But whatever, I'm telling you that we can go home now, now that we've dealt with Miss Green Hair-"

As the dust cleared, they both notices Yuuka still standing on two foot at the same spot. Her outfit has been damaged, but the Youkai herself appears largely unscathed.

"-here?" Marisa finishes with her mouth hanging open.

Reimu turned back toward Yuuka, though a little bit slow due to the numbness caused by the curvy laser danmaku. "You...you are not a normal Youkai..."

Yuuka closed her parasol before stabbing it into the floor. "Of course I am a normal Youkai." She says. "Its just that this power isn't originally mine." right hand on the grip of her parasol, Yuuka held out her left hand, with the palm facing upward, as she conjures a small ball of magic energy hovering slightly above the hand. "Allow me..."

...

**Mima's House**

While Mima and her pupils managed to have their side of the situation under control, the hideout is completely trashed by the time they did so. Pieces of furniture, magic equipment, potion bottles, potions, and tomes were spread all across the floor messily. The apprentice witches all bunched up at a toppled desk, slumped against each other, tired of everything that have just happened today.

Mima is also tired. She used much of her magic to put up a strong everything-repelling ward (she initially set up an anti-Youkai ward, but discovered that fairies aren't Youkai) around what used to be the doorway to keep everything outside the hideout  _outside_. The ward is effective at keeping things out, but not at actually discouraging any beings from trying to break through, as shown by the crowd of berserk Youkai of all shapes and sizes out there. Mima herself don't know how long the ward will hold.

The crowd of berserk Youkai stopped pounding on the ward when something materialized behind them. All of them, along with Mima from behind the ward, turned their attention on it.

It turned out to be the Astral Knight, Konngara.

The crowd of berserk Youkai then starts to charge toward Konngara, their intentions very clear and obvious.

Konngara doesn't flinch at the notion. She simply unsheathes her sword, and stabs it into the ground, creating a shockwave that sweeps through the crowd of berserk Youkai, scattering them all over the place.

The intelligent Youkai took this as a cue that they should leave, and so they did. But the savage ones acted only on their feral instincts, getting up to immediately resume their attacks.

Konngara easily slashes her way through the savage pack without much effort. All of them went down after just one slice each, and none of them got back up after that. After the brief scuttle, the scene falls silent, with the only sound being those traveled a long distance from elsewhere in Gensokyo.

"Well, it took you long enough..." Mima dryly greets the Astral Knight.

Konngara approaches Mima, but stopped right before the everything-repelling ward, knowing she can't get through it either (and not planning on removing the evil spirit's last line of defense against the rampaging Youkai and Bewitching Lotuses). "I bring information regarding this Incident about the rampaging Youkai and the Bewitching Lotuses." She says.

"Oh, that?" Mima responds dismissively. "Let me guess... Kazami Yuuka did it, right?"

Konngara gives out a straightforward, yet very surprising answer. "Not quite..."

Mima did not expect that answer at all. "What do you mean 'not quite'? Do explain."

"The simplest method of saying this is that Kazami is using a power which she does not originally possess." Konngara explains.

Mima frowned. "You mean to say that  _someone else_  is pulling the strings?"

Before Konngara gets to answer, a Karakasa-Obake suddenly appeared from behind. Though the Karakasa didn't even get the chance to do anything before the Astral Knight drove her sword at it without even looking at it. The tip of the sword stopped just an inch from the Karakasa's sole eye, and that was enough to scare it into running away hurriedly.

"Someone not of this world, to be precise..." Konngara then says.

Mima then crosses her arms. "Then who is this string-puller?"

Konngara shook her head. "That, I do not know yet."

Mima decided that she should contact Marisa as soon as possible, so she took her crystal orb out...and found that it was shattered by the fight earlier. Gritting her non-corporeal teeth, the evil spirit then turns toward her pupils.

The apprentice witches all knew what Mima is about to ask, so they all showed her their crystal orbs, all of which are also catastrophically damaged.

"Don't worry, Miss Mima..." Ako says weakly.

"I'm sure Miss Marisa knows what she should be doing right now..." Markle weakly adds.

...

**Mugenkan**

What Yuuka did to demonstrate the true extent of her powers is making a pair of huge sunflowers twice her height burst out of the ceramic floor on both her left and right, then follows that with a web of vines forming a protective dome around her.

Marisa is visibly surprised by what she saw just now. "I have  _no idea_  what I should be doing right now..."

The huge sunflowers glowed brightly before they both released a massive barrage of beam danmaku.

"You should  _dodge_!" Reimu cries out to Marisa, as she quickly goes to push Marisa out of the way of the beam danmaku fired at her. Good thing these beam danmaku don't curve, and only travel in a straight line.

Marisa avoided getting hit thanks to Reimu, but the shrine maiden trainee pushed a bit too hard, sending her crashing into one of the walls instead.

"Okay, I have an idea now." The witch remarks as she climbs out of the crater on the wall. "Remember when Ako called me for advice while we're on the way?"

Reimu knows what Marisa meant by that. "What does that have to do with us fighting this Youkai?"

Marisa just grinned. "She called me for advice on a giant  _plant_  problem, and..."

The shrine maiden trainee now understands. She grinned as well. "Then I'll distract the ones here for you to do your job..."

The two girls jumped back to avoid a barrage of beam danmaku.

"Let's do this!" Marisa says to Reimu.

"For Gensokyo!" Reimu says back.

With that, the girls then launched themselves in opposite directions, thereby giving Yuuka's huge sunflowers two separate targets to shoot at in two different directions.

Marisa first focuses on the huge sunflower firing at her. She dodges a barrage it fires at her, then she quickly raises her magic wand as she prepares to cast a spell. "Alright, then..." The witch quipped. "Coldfire!"

A tiny blue fireball shot out from Marisa's wand, and hit that huge sunflower, dead center. At first, it doesn't appear to do anything, but then the huge sunflower erupted into a pillar of blue fire that quickly engulfed it. Within seconds, the huge sunflower begins to wither away before disintegrating into particles of magic that quickly faded away.

"Yes, it works!" Marisa cheered gleefully.

"I saw that, Marisa..." Reimu says while she continues to keep the remaining huge sunflower busy. "...Now do it again, please!"

"Was gonna to~" Marisa says, before proceeding to flick another tiny blue fireball at the other huge sunflower.

Again, the same thing happened. The huge sunflower erupted in a pillar of blue fire, disintegrating into magic particles and fading away within seconds.

Reimu fired several danmaku at the holes the huge sunflowers emerged from for good measure. After confirming they are actually neutralized, she turns her attention on the only target left in the vicinity. "We've dealt with the garden. Now it's time for the gardener..."

As if on cue, the web of vines protecting Yuuka immediately crumbled, revealing a shocked Youkai standing there with her lower jaw hanging open.

"And now ya toast!" Marisa gleefully taunts Yuuka for her current predicament.

Yuuka closed her mouth, and raised both hands to indicate surrender. "Maybe we can talk now, since you two have just beaten me soundly..." She suggested to the girls.

Reimu trained her gohei at Yuuka, and kept it trained at the Youkai. "Alright, then. First question: you said this power isn't yours, so whose is it?"

Yuuka, however, seems reluctant to answer that question, despite submitting to the interrogation with no resistance otherwise. "I would answer that, but are you ready for it?"

Marisa is already getting impatient. "Why the question-dodgin'? Izzit something, or some _one_  ya can't casually talk 'bout?"

"That would be because she doesn't fully understand us either..." A third-party suddenly answers from out of nowhere.

Reimu and Marisa both became surprised, as they start looking around for the source of the voice. "Who's there?!"

"Over here, you two..." The same third-party voice calls out from the room behind Yuuka.

Reimu and Marisa turned their attention there, and sees that a portal has appeared all of a sudden in the middle of what they think is Yuuka's bedroom, with someone emerging from it...

* * *

And so we finish the battle against Yuuka. No sadism, no megalasers, no usual USC stereotypes...

...Just an ordinary Youkai at the wrong place at the wrong time minding her own business only to be forced into self-defense. Yeah, this version of Yuuka is very different, including the fact that she's manipulated from behind by Mugetsu and Gengetsu...

What, you really think Ako calling Marisa for advice on the overgrowing rose bush problem several chapters back won't turn out to be important later? If that was literally the case for you, then you don't know what a Chekhov's Gun is.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here..._


	61. The REAL Culprit

**Mugenkan**

The sight is now unmistakable: a portal has opened right behind Yuuka in her bedroom, and someone is emerging from it.

Emerging from the portal is a person resembling a blonde-haired teenage girl wearing a maid outfit not too different than Ruukoto's.

"I had it all under control..." Yuuka says to the teenage-looking girl.

The teenage-looking girl glared at Yuuka before poking the Youkai in a manner that tells people she is disappointed by the turn of events. "You  _had_. But then they-" She points at Reimu and Marisa. "-took control of it, and things quickly became boring, especially with how you used the powers we loaned you..."

" _Loaned_  you...?" Marisa interrupted. "The heck's goin' on here? Ya two conspiring to do something together?"

"What is going on here?!" Reimu burst out at the unexpected twist of events. "Who is that?!" She directs her outburst at Yuuka.

Yuuka doesn't get to answer, though, as the maid-dressed girl delivers a karate chop to the Youkai's back, knocking her down on her knees. "Stay down, you useless weed..." She then redirects her attention on the shrine maiden trainee and the witch. "So you're the ones who thrashed her..."

**Diabolic Dreams**

**Mugetsu**

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Mugetsu, and I live in the Dream World, which has gotten very boring lately, so me and my sister have decided to  _spice things up_  a little bit..."

In the meantime, the sound of a warfare-scale danmaku battle along with several explosions rang in from outside Mugenkan.

"Why?" Marisa points out. "For a take-over-the-world scenario?"

"Same question." Reimu says.

Mugetsu keeps that smirk on her face. But in her mind, she is actually rather angry and disappointed that Reimu and Marisa's reactions were as calm as one can get upon hearing about a ploy that is always registered as evil.

"A more accurate description is to call it 'reshaping the environment'..." Mugetsu calmly corrects.

"Because you were bored?" Reimu and Marisa points out.

Mugetsu froze, facial expression and all. This is a sign that she was not expecting such a response.

"Ugh, so much for that diabolical atmosphere..." The maid-dressed girl complains. "Can't you two  _at least_  pretend you were horrified?"

"Met and got acquainted with an evil spirit who was initially genuinely diabolic." Reimu gives a straightforward answer. "Been used to it ever since."

"I'm actually studyin' under said evil spirit." Marisa follows up Reimu's answer.

"That being said..." Reimu suddenly got serious. "You and your sister caused the appearance of the Bewitching Lotuses as well as the fairies and Youkai going berserk...you know its going to draw someone's ire, doesn't it?"

Mugetsu's smirk returned. Looks like she is expecting this one. She opened her mouth to say something...

...Only to get interrupted, much to her ire.

"Mugetsu, what is taking you so long?" Another person suddenly appeared behind Mugetsu. This person, like Mugetsu, has blond hair, and similar facial features, but the similarities end there, with her having a red hair bow, white dress with red vest, and what appeared to be a pair of feathery wings.

**Diabolical Nightmare**

**Gengetsu**

"Gengetsu! Don't just pop out like that!" Mugetsu exclaims at the surprise appearance. "And you just ruined the diabolical mood I'm cooking up!"

"From what I can see, your diabolical mood is under-cooked..." Gengetsu remarks with deadpan. "And the  _baku_  explicitly said, 'no diabolic moods'..."

If there were any crickets in the vicinity, now would be an appropriate time for them to chirp.

"Way to ruin it even further, sister..." Mugetsu complains.

Reimu and Marisa glances at each other while Mugetsu and Gengetsu bickers.

"I felt like we're gettin' ignored, don'tcha think?" Marisa wonders out loud for Reimu to hear.

"Well, Kamishirasawa- _sensei_  said people tend to subconsciously prioritize familiar things over unfamiliar ones..." Reimu says. "Whatever she meant by that..." The shrine maiden trainee then shrugs.

"Anyway," Mugetsu, after finishing her bickering session with Gengetsu, points a finger at Reimu and Marisa. "we should deal with them if we want our plans to be successful."

The shrine maiden trainee and the witch took that as a cue that they should prepare themselves for an attack, and they do just that.

"Oh, yes. The pests that replaced the weed in the garden..." Gengetsu says. "We ought to get rid of them so they don't interfere..."

"Or we  _don't_." Mugetsu suggests. "We just go back to the Dream World and seal everyone else outside while we sit back and watch as our plan runs the rest of it by itself."

Reimu and Marisa both opened their mouth wide, and so did Gengetsu, upon hearing such a boring and simple but  _practical_  plan.

"That...never occurred to me." Gengetsu admits her surprise. "But it does work, so we could go with that."

Mugetsu turns her attention back on Reimu and Marisa. "Well, then, see you two as lost souls in Makai later!"

And with that, the sisters made their hasty retreat back to the portal they emerged from. The portal begins to slowly shrink after they've passed it.

It took another three seconds for Reimu and Marisa to snap out of their confusion.

"What are we just floating over here for?! They're getting away!" Reimu says furiously, as she makes a beeline for the shrinking portal.

"Hey, Reimu! Wait for me!" Marisa shouts out, then heads for the portal from right behind Reimu.

Reimu enters the portal first, followed by Marisa. Though the witch's hat clipped the rim of the portal, knocking it off her head. As the portal has shrunken enough that it became too small for her to go back through, Marisa quickly extended her hand through it to catch her hat, then pulls it in before the portal shrinks into oblivion, leaving no trace of its existence within Mugenkan.

The only person there to bear witness of the scene is Yuuka, who stayed with her knees on the ground for a few more seconds before she decides to stand up.

Inspecting the collateral damage caused by Reimu and Marisa's fight against her earlier, Yuuka sighed once.

"I've been forgotten once again..." The Youkai exasperates.

* * *

Yeehaw! Glad to have this chapter finished and uploaded!

Sorry for the unannounced absence, though. I had to study for the very last exam in my college degree, and thus spent the past month having no time to touch FF Dot Net at all.

All in all, here you go: the almost-diabolical introduction of Mugetsu and Gengetsu, revealing that they set off the  _LLS_  Incident because they were  _bored_  with life in the Dream World. You getting some  _Scarlet Weather Rhapsody_  vibes here?

Gengetsu also mentions a  _baku_  in the meantime. Hmm, I wonder who might that be...?

Before I end off this chapter, I would like to announce that the [official  _Young Maiden's Chronicles_  Tumblr](https://youngmaidenschronicles.tumblr.com) is now up and available! Give it a visit for news, special updates and potential supplementary materials if you like to.

"And that, as they say, is that"

_Afterword ends here._


	62. We Can't Go Any Deeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See if you can get the reference in this chapter's title. ^_^

**The Dream World**

Soon after going through the portal in pursuit of Mugetsu and Gengetsu, Reimu and Marisa found themselves floating in the middle of a pitch black void.

The void lacked everything they knew so far, even gravity but except breathable air. The only things they could see right now are one another.

"What is this place?" Reimu wonders out loud. Her voice echoed in the void.

"Beats me..." Marisa shrugs. Her voice, too, echoed in the void.

The two girls flew on, with absolutely nothing to help them determine their relative position, hoping they might run into something. Or someone.

"Do those two actually live in this pitch black nothingness?" Marisa wonders, as she holds on to her witch hat due to there being no gravity to hold it on her head. "Kinda sucked to be livin' here. No wonder they are bored..."

"Let there be light..." The voices of Mugetsu and Gengetsu is heard saying in unison.

Almost immediately, a bright white flash filled the empty void, causing Reimu and Marisa to instinctively cover their eyes with one hand to avoid getting blinded. The bright white flash lasted for a full minute before dissipating.

After the bright white flash goes away, Reimu and Marisa now find themselves in the middle of an astral realm with stars like the night's sky at every direction, and red lines arranged all over the place in a three-dimensional grid-like pattern. The red lines don't appear to be corporeal, as seen when Reimu tried to poke one with her gohei and it went right through without distorting the line in any way.

Not too far in front of the shrine maiden trainee and the witch, Mugetsu and Gengetsu appeared, with what looked like the moon in the background behind them.

"Welcome to the Dream World, you two." Mugetsu greets the two girls.

"I was not expecting you two to actually try to follow us in..." Gengetsu deadpans.

Reimu scans the area for any signs of booby traps and other hostiles. After making sure there are none, she turns her attention back on Mugetsu and Gengetsu. "What a gorgeous place you live in, though I can see why you're still bored..."

"Exactly." Mugetsu and Gengetsu responds at the same time. Though this is followed by them glaring at each other, indicating that neither sisters expected the other to speak at the same time.

"Ya know, we're supposed to be stoppin' ya..." Marisa reminds them as she waves her magic wand to emphasize its presence.

"Marisa is right, we're supposed to be putting an end to your plans..." Reimu, reminded by what Marisa just said, tensed up in preparation for a fight. "I'm willing to give you a chance, though. Put an end to your plans, and maybe we can negotiate."

Mugetsu is amused by the shrine maiden trainee's statement. "Oh, nice of you to come up with that." She says. "Unfortunately, diplomacy isn't exactly me and my sister's forte..."

Marisa stops waving her magic wand, as she points it straight at the dream sisters. "Then too bad for ya."

Reimu narrows her eyes as she summons the Ying-Yang Orb, tossing it up and down with one hand. "Violence it is." She says.

The shrine maiden trainee then hits the Ying-Yang Orb with her gohei, sending it flying toward Mugetsu.

Mugetsu attempts to deflect the incoming Ying-Yang Orb by punching it. With an identical result as Yumemi's attempt before her, the blue-dressed dream girl is knocked over by it and loses her balance in the zero gravity environment of the Dream World. Unlike Yumemi, however, Mugetsu did it with her punching hand bare, resulting a bruised knuckle as well.

Gengetsu face-palmed in reaction to her sister's incredibly stupid move. "Oh, sister. I can't believe you did that..."

"Noted..." Mugetsu says as she nurses her bruised knuckle. "But enough talk! They got serious, so we should too!"

The dream sisters begin their attack with a shower of danmaku fired at Reimu and Marisa in a completely randomized pattern.

Reimu and Marisa splits up again, doing their best to weave through the randomized danmaku shower, while firing their own danmaku at Mugetsu and Gengetsu.

"Marisa, you take on the one in red!" Reimu calls out. "I'll deal with the one in red!"

"Leave her to me!" Marisa responds, as she begins flinging spells at Gengetsu.

...

Reimu finds out very quickly into the battle that the difference in power level between her and Mugetsu is  _huge_. The former has already exhausted her Ofuda supply and is nearly exhausted herself after all the dodging and fighting, while the latter looked like she could keep this up for an eternity.

The shrine maiden trainee launches the Ying-Yang Orb once more at the blue-dressed dream girl, who decides to dodge it this time. Then with a snap of her fingers, several boulder-sized danmaku appeared all over her side of the battle zone, which she then send flying toward her opponent.

It's a good thing these boulder-sized danmaku are not particularly fast, so Reimu had an easy time avoiding them despite her fatigue. After weaving through the barrage of boulder-sized danmaku, the shrine maiden trainee resumes firing at Mugetsu as she slowly makes her way toward the latter.

Mugetsu then puts out both her hands, conjuring up a ball of crimson red light that then fires a laser beam straight at Reimu.

Reimu dodges the beam by swerving to the side, then presses on with her barrage and resumes her closing in to Mugetsu.

With the distance reduced to a bare minimum, it became pretty much impossible for Reimu to miss any of her shots, or for Mugetsu to dodge any of them. The blue-dressed dream girl flinched with every hit she receives. Turns out that despite her massive power level, Mugetsu isn't any more resistant to attacks than the average Youkai.

...

Marisa cannot gauge power levels like Reimu do, but she learns very quickly in her fight against Gengetsu that the red-dressed dream girl is way beyond her league. Marisa has flung so many spells that her hand is starting to ache from the constant waving of her magic wand, and Gengetsu doesn't even look the slightest bit of being tired as she dodges one attack after another with her lightning-fast speed.

Gengetsu zipped right past Marisa, and the witch felt an open palm hitting her in the chest  _hard_. The attack sent Marisa tumbling off her flying broomstick, and leaves her floating in the zero-gravity environment of the Dream World.

"Oh, that hurts! And godsdamn it!" Marisa cursed as she tries to regain her bearings, which is difficult when there is no gravity to determine which way is up.

In the midst of her uncontrolled rolling and spinning, the witch sees her broomstick floating away from her (or her floating away from it). She tries various method to right herself up and reach her broomstick, including "swimming", but none worked.

Then she notices multiple danmaku zipping past her, and catches a glimpse of Gengetsu getting closer to her while firing those same types of danmaku.

"Not good.  _Not good!_ " Marisa panicked, as she struggles to aim her magic wand at Gengetsu, but having trouble doing so due to the uncontrolled spinning disorientating her. She eventually decided against manually aiming, and just pointed the wand forward, waiting for her uncontrolled spinning to put her face-to-face with Gengetsu.

The next time Marisa sees Gengetsu, the red-dressed dream girl has already gotten close enough for a melee attack, which for the single second the witch is able to see her, appears to be what she intend to do.

"Alright, ya daughter of a bastard..." Marisa says under her breath. "COOL DOWN!" She then shouts loudly as she casts a spell.

A jet of freezing wind blasted out from Marisa's magic wand, blowing its caster away and causing its intended target to break off her attack and reel back.

To her astonishment, Marisa found that the jet of freezing wind had not only blown her in the opposite direction but also somewhat lessened the severity of the uncontrolled spinning. "Well, this is weird, but I'm kinda glad it happened..." Finding herself more stable and oriented now, the witch takes the time to figure out why this is the case. She then remembers something she had learned from one of her earlier magic lessons from Mima.

She grinned as she puts the pieces together and figures out how she can take advantage of this.

"Okay, then, let's give this a shot!" Marisa cheerfully says as she points her magic wand behind her, then casting the jet of freezing wind again. However, that attempt sent her right back into spinning uncontrollably, and it took her some effort to readjust her position. "Well, that ain't it..." The witch remarks.

She then catches a glimpse of her broomstick, floating by itself in the zero gravity environment.

"I'm gonna need that." Marisa tells herself as she points her magic wand forward, holding it with both hands to stabilize it.

Another burst of danmaku zipped past the witch, as she notices Gengetsu, with half her face frozen by the freezing wind jet earlier, approaching her with furious intent.

"I ain't got time for ya!" Marisa, irritated, tells off the red-dressed dream girl. "Eat my frozen dust!" She then casts the freezing wind spell again, using it in a similar manner as Rikako's rocket backpack.

Gengetsu raised her hands to shield her face from Marisa's frozen trail, then gives chase while firing danmaku at her.

Marisa initially had difficulty with steering her trajectory, but she quickly gets used to it and is able to effectively dodge Gengetsu's danmaku bursts while making her way to her broomstick. That being said, Marisa can't shoot back because she is using her magic wand to propel herself, and she soon notices that Gengetsu is still getting closer with each passing seconds.

"Almost there..." Marisa tensed up with her broomstick almost within reach. She dispelled the freezing wind jet, allowing inertia to take her the rest of the way there. She extended her left hand in an attempt to grab the broomstick...

But then Gengetsu suddenly appears and rams into the witch, knocking her out of her intended trajectory.

Gengetsu had grabbed Marisa by the collar of her blouse with one hand, while channeling power into her other hand in preparation for a finishing blow. "Haven't your father taught you not to play around with magic?" The red-dressed dream girl taunted the witch in the meantime. "Or maybe it was your mother trying to get you killed~?"

Something snapped within Marisa. This sorry excuse of a Dream World being can say whatever she want about Reimu, or Mima, or her witch friends, or even her father. But to say that about her mother? That is unforgivable!

Enraged by Gengetsu's taunt, Marisa raised her magic wand, and shoved its tip into the red-dressed dream girl's mouth. "If ya actually knows my dad once forbade magic, then ya should know that he also said never to badmouth someone else!" The witch channeled her rage into her next spell. "So  _GO. TO. MAKAI!_ "

...

Mugetsu was in the midst of exchanging blows in hand-to-hand combat (and not doing very well due to the shots she received before then) when she noticed a huge ball of light erupting from where Marisa and Gengetsu are.

"Sister!" Mugetsu cried out, knowing that her sister has been taken out.

This brief distraction, however, is enough for Reimu to overcome the blue-dressed dream girl's defensive stance. After doing so, Reimu shoots Mugetsu several more times in the face, disorienting her. The shrine maiden trainee then conjures the Ying-Yang Orb and, instead of launching it as a projectile, grabs on to it and swings it as a hammerhead toward the side of Mugetsu's head...

* * *

And so that wraps up Reimu and Marisa versus Mugetsu and Gengetsu.

But how are the former two going to get out of the Dream World back into Gensokyo? That is a question to be answered in the next chapter, so please wait warmly~

Yes, this version of Gengetsu and Mugetsu lives in the same Dream World that is seen in  _Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom_ , as you can see with how I described it as having red lines arranged in a 3D grid-like pattern, something that the  _LLS_  Dream World didn't have, but the  _LoLK_  Dream World did.

Marisa kind of stole this chapter's spotlight, didn't she?

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	63. Lotus Land Story

**Hakurei Shrine**

"And so it turns out that the flower Youkai had nothing to do with the Incident itself, and that the Dream World sisters used her  _home_  as a beacon to initiate their redecorating of Gensokyo, because they were  _bored_..."

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu narrates her story about the Incident to Genji, as she looked on toward the patch of the shrine grounds that the first Bewitching Lotus emerged from and was repaired by Ruukoto. Matenshi, however, seems to have disappeared without a trace.

"I see..." Genji says. "Kazami Yuuka was many things, but being gullible was the one thing I never knew her to be..."

Reimu then holds up a letter that was sent to her by Yuuka just an hour ago. Written in the letter is Yuuka apologizing for her lack of socializing skills being indirectly responsible for the Incident, and that she'll consider seeing a therapist,  _if_  she can find one who would help a Youkai. She also mentioned that Kurumi and Elly were injured by the knockout blows they received, but will make full recovery soon.

Reimu bites into a rice biscuit. "I was a bit surprised at that too." The shrine maiden trainee speaks her mind. "A Youkai that possesses a very powerful ability...which she got as the result of a plain and simple  _scam_. Although the scammers' ulterior motives were much, much more than that..." She then sips her tea. "And to think I spent all of yesterday with Marisa to go beat up Youkai who turned out to be innocent bystanders..."

"However, it is a good thing that you two were able to stop the true culprits and put an end to their plans..." Genji points out. "Have their plans been allowed to proceed any further, Gensokyo's human population would've succumbed to the hordes of berserk Youkai and Bewitching Lotuses of all shapes and sizes."

Genji was right. The human village suffered the worst in the Incident, and despite Kotohime's and the Gensokyo Police Force's efforts at holding back the horde, they probably wouldn't have been able to survive had Reimu and Marisa not defeated Mugetsu and Gengetsu, putting an end to the magical miasma that is causing the fairies and Youkai to go berserk. That being said, the village still suffered much damage, and there were reports of people being injured by the horde.

"That I'm glad about." Reimu says as she finishes her rice biscuits. She quickly notices Genji giving her a curious look. "Something in your mind, gramps?"

"There is, indeed, a question that I am wondering about." The flying turtle responds. "How did you return from the Dream World? You and your friend certainly cannot open a portal in there, and the ones who can were incapacitated at the time..."

"Oh, that." Reimu responds dully. "To put it simply, Mima decided to come to our rescue. Or rather, she came to Marisa's-"

The shrine maiden trainee stopped mid-sentence when she notices something appearing right in front of her face.

It was unmistakably a bat.

"Gyah!" Reimu screamed hysterically, as she quickly backs herself against the donation box. "Get away! Get away from me!"

The hysterical scream stopped when Reimu hears a familiar-sounding laugh coming from above the shrine roof.

"Heheheh. Gotcha there, haven't I~?" Marisa suddenly appears, descending from above the roof to the veranda, while holding a fishing rod with a line that is connected to the bat.

It then dawned on Reimu that the bat is a fake. "Marisa! You almost scared me to death! Godsdamn you!" She reacted to the prank with anger.

Marisa tosses the fishing rod and the fake bat over her shoulders, then dismounts from her flying broomstick. "How can ya be a proper shrine maiden and protector of Gensokyo if ya get scared by somethin' as simple as that?" The witch offers her excuse.

"That is still no excuse to do what you just did!" Reimu complains. "I had nightmares about Kurumi last night!"

In the meantime, Genji found this amusing, and would've laughed if turtles were capable of doing so.

"Speaking of nightmares, I wonder what became of the Dream Sisters? Perhaps getting their just punishment from the  _baku_?"

...

**Mima's House**

"Jealousy is no excuse to follow Marisa all the way to such a dangerous place as Yuuka's mansion, especially not when fairies and Youkai are running amok all over Gensokyo! You could have been killed for real!"

Mima sternly lectured all the apprentice witches that followed Marisa all the way to Mugenkan and tried to kill her (and Reimu).

All of them, sitting in  _seiza_  on the floor, looked down in shame as they realized how true their teacher's words are. Many of them still have marks from their battle with Reimu and Marisa, including burn marks, minor wounds, being still partially frozen, and the likes. The lead jealous witch bore the worst, having gotten slashed across her back by Elly's scythe and taken a full blast from a hill-sized Bewitching Lotus to her face. Had those two been done with fully lethal intent, there would be nothing left of her to be brought back to Mima.

"I'm sorry, Miss Mima!" They all say at once, apologetically.

"And as punishment for going off the rails," Mima briefly pauses her lecture to point at Ako and her gang, who are busy with repairing the furniture in the hideout by using some basic repairing magic. The evil spirit levitates several toolboxes and some wooden planks over, then drops them in front of the battered apprentice witches. "I want you imbeciles to fix up that hole where our door used to be,  _without_  magic. Understand?"

"Yes, Miss Mima..." The battered apprentice witches responds.

"I can't hear you." Mima, not satisfied by the response, says to them.

"Yes, Miss Mima!" The battered apprentice witches responds again, this time louder.

"Good..." Mima says as she turns around, facing away from the battered apprentice witches. "Now get to work!"

The battered apprentice witches said nothing more, as they hurriedly went to pick up the toolboxes and planks, and went to work as instructed.

Mima just stood there, watching the battered apprentice witches start repairing the big hole that used to be the entrance door, sawing planks and hammering nails into them, all done via manual labor with absolutely no magic. She notes that doing labor-intensive works physically is a lot harder than doing them with magic, yet Mundane humans do it all the time.

Then Mima remembered why these poor girls did what got them lectured and punished in the first place. She may be an evil spirit, but she too was once a human, and she too desired attention back in her younger days, like all humans did...

"And after you girls are done with the repairs," Mima then tells the battered apprentice witches, causing them to pause their work briefly in surprise. "go clean yourselves up and get some rest. Then we'll have a session of demonstrating your skills where everyone gets their chance at showing off what they've learned in the past months.  _Everyone_ , no exceptions..."

The battered apprentice witches made no response, as they resume their work with the repairs.

Though the lead jealous witch shed tears of joy upon hearing what Mima just said. After everything she went through, she's finally getting the attention she wanted for so long. Wiping her tears, she kept on working with the repairs.

Meanwhile, as Ako and her gang are busy with their side of the repairs, the lifting up of a bookshelf revealed a fairy that got trapped under it. The fairy panicked upon seeing so many magically capable humans (and a powerful evil spirit), and started flying all over the place, disturbing everyone and nearly causing some repairs to be undone in the process.

"Stupid fairy!" Markle says angrily as she went to grab her staff. "I'll teach you not to mess with us witches!"

That is when it became everyone else's turn to panic. Even Mima became paler than she already is.

"Wait, Markle! Not-" Mima called out as she attempts to stop the little witch.

"EXPLOSION!" Markle, pointing her staff at the panicking fairy, loudly casts her spell.

...

That night, a certain little witch is forced to stand outside until sunrise while carrying water buckets with both hands, as her teacher and fellow apprentice witches contemplate how to deal with the damages to the hideout that she made worse...

* * *

And so we wrap up the  _Lotus Land Story_ arc, where all goes on well for everyone. Well,  _almost_  everyone.

With that, I can finally start working on the fifth and final story arc: the  _Mystic Square_  arc. So please wait warmly~

Poor jealous witch. Working so hard and getting hit even harder, just so she can get the attention she wanted. Then when she finally does, one of Marisa's witch friends decides to ruin the heartwarming moment by doing something utterly hilarious (for the readers, anyway).

Oh, and did you catch the reference in how Markle decides to deal with that fairy? I'm sure you anime fans did.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	64. Of Party Crash and Culture Clash

**Hakurei Shrine**

"So let me get this straight..." Reimu says with skepticism. "Mima let you girls off to do your own things for this whole week?"

"Ee-yup!" Marisa gives a straightforward answer.

"And you decide to spend some of that time-" Reimu continues, still with skepticism. "-by preparing for a tea party here?"

"Ee-yup!" Marisa gives the exact same answer.

Reimu then turns her attention on the shrine's grounds, where Marisa's witch friends are setting up some fancy tables, fancy chairs around those tables, western fork and spoon sets, western tea sets...

In other words, everything that are examples of culture clash for Reimu.

"A  _western_  tea party?" Reimu adds in disbelief.

"Ee-yup!" Marisa, again, gives the exact same answer.

Reimu takes another look at the shrine grounds and the things that have been set up there. Then back at Marisa. She went back and forth between the shrine grounds and the witch as she tries to process what is going on before her eyes.

"If you're going to have a tea party here," Reimu attempts to tell off Marisa. "it should be a  _Yamato_  tea party, not a western one!" The shrine maiden trainee's statement quickly becomes an outburst. "I'm the shrine maiden of a Shinto shrine! Why should I concern myself with  _gaijin_  culture?!"

"Ya're overreacting, I tell ya." Marisa says, as she hands Reimu a western teacup filled with western tea (which she somehow managed to fetch without anyone noticing). "Just take it easy and have a drink."

Reimu holds the western teacup with both hands, eyeing its content with suspicion. "Are you sure there's nothing strange in here?" She asks in a moment of carefulness.

Marisa snaps her fingers. "Don'tcha worry! If there's anything funny in there, I would've poured it down Fey's throat, first things first!" The witch then reassures.

Reimu continues staring at the western tea, still hesitant to try it out.

"Whatcha worryin' 'bout?" Marisa interrupts Reimu's hesitation. "That's just Earl Grey tea. It ain't gonna melt your innards."

Even with the witch's reassurance, the shrine maiden trainee is still hesitant about trying the tea, and skeptical about its quality. After contemplating everything that might happen (and all the possible punishments she can sic on Marisa), Reimu decides to give the western tea a sip...

...And promptly gags on it, as she immediately spits out the entire content of the teacup.

"Wh-what is this strange taste?!" Reimu exclaims. "This is nothing like the green tea I usually had!"

The look on Marisa's and her witch friends' faces upon watching Reimu's reaction is indicative of them feeling offended culturally. Ako and gang had to stop Markle from attempting to do... _something_...to Reimu in retribution.

"Oh, c'mon! I practically begged Mom and Dad for half of their entire supply!" Marisa balks. "If ya don't like them, at least don't say it so offensively!"

"Who would want their tea to be so sweet?" Reimu says. "You do what you want, Marisa. I'm going to make some  _real_  tea." With that said, the shrine maiden trainee then turns around and walks into the shrine.

Marisa and her witch friends just stood there awkwardly after Reimu's departure.

"Well, someone need to teach that shrine maiden some etiquette..." Ako remarks.

...

30 minutes later...

Reimu returns to the veranda, carrying with her a tray of teacups and a teapot (not the western ones) filled with green tea. She then sits down on the veranda, lay the tray next to her, and then pours herself a cup of tea to drink.

Meanwhile, Marisa and her witch friends have already sat themselves around one of the tables. Apparently, they're having a mini-party by themselves, and seems to be playing a game where they take turns to ask each other "Truth or Dare?". Looks like today is going to be an entire day of culture clashes for Reimu.

"Truth or Dare?" Marisa asks as she points both index fingers at Ako.

"Dare!" Ako answers. She seems excited to be playing this strange game.

"Well, then..." Marisa says. She seems to be smirking, as if having a plan in her mind. "I want'cha to hit yourself with this bottle!" The witch says as she hands Ako a glass bottle.

Ako grabs the glass bottle and stares at it for a while, as if having second thoughts about her choice.

Then without further adieu, the little apprentice witch proceeds to actually hit herself over the head with it. There is an audible " _doink_ " as the impact occurred, but the glass bottle is still in pristine condition.

"It didn't even crack!" Fey and Fey simultaneously points out in surprise.

"You only said to hit myself with it." Ako proudly says, as she sets the bottle down on the table. "You didn't say to  _smash_  the  _bottle_."

Everyone else remained silent for a few seconds before laughing out loud. Even Reimu, who found Ako's loophole abuse quite amusing.  _Shame that neither Genji nor Konngara are around to hear about this..._  The shrine maiden trainee thought.

"Your turn now, Miss Marisa!" Ako says. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." Marisa answers straightforwardly, seemingly ready for whatever she might be asked about.

The apprentice witches laughs smugly. Looks like they have something planned for Marisa...

"Then answer this." Ako brings out the question. "Do you like Miss Reimu or not?"

Awkward silence ensued for both the person being asked the question, and the subject of the question. Both of them did not expect this.

Marisa and Reimu turns to look at each other in the eyes, nervously.

"Before I answer that..." Marisa mouths to her friends, before directing her sight back on Reimu. "Whaddya think?"

Reimu appears to blush violently for a brief moment before she clears herself up and responds, "We're both girls, you idiot..."

Marisa turns her attention back on her friends, whom are all looking at her with that look on their face.

"Truth is...I have no idea!" The witch quickly goes into denial mode. "Has Suza been feedin' you girls weird thoughts again?"

"No!" Comes a response from an apprentice witch who sat out of the Truth or Dare game (and to Marisa's right). "There is nothing weird about two girls kissing, true?"

Now it is Marisa's turn to blush violently. Ako and the others can't resist the urge to giggle at what they just heard.

Marisa recovers, and then draws her wand on the apprentice witch. "I'm gonna turn ya into a newt, Suza!"

"I would kindly suggest not doing that, miss witch." A voice rings out.

"Oh, whaddya know about what we're goin' through?" Marisa responds to that voice as she continues to poke Suza with her wand.

It then occurred to Marisa, and everyone for that matters, that both the voice and the accent it came with did  _not_  belong to anyone they know. Not Konngara. Not Mima. Not Kamishirasawa- _sensei_. Not Elis. Not Rika. Not Ellen. Not Kana. Not Rikako. Not Kotohime. Not Chiyuri. Not Yumemi. Not Ruukoto (definitely, as Reimu sent her to the village to buy groceries, and she wouldn't be back so soon). Not Orange. Not Kurumi. Not Elly. Not Yuuka. Certainly not Mugetsu or Gengetsu.

So everyone mentally asked themselves the same question: "Who is that?"

The voice came from the direction of the  _torii_  gate, so everyone turned to face it (with Reimu and Marisa both readying their respective weapons).

They find themselves looking at a young(-looking) lady with barely open yellow eyes, short blonde hair, and a white hat with a purple bow, along with a white dress with a purple collar. She appears to be carrying a large baggage bag with her.

**Tourist From Makai**

**Louise**

"Hello~" She greets everyone as she waves her left hand. "My name is Louise, and I'm a tourist from Makai." She adds before holding up what appears to be a notebook. "Does anyone here know which way is Misty Lake?"

Marisa lowers her magic wand for a bit, not seeing anything dangerous about this mysterious new girl. "That would be, uh," The witch kindly answers Louise, as she points a finger northwest. "that way."

Reimu is about to say something, but then she notices something odd about Louise. Something telling the shrine maiden trainee that this foreign-looking girl is more than she appears to be, yet she is neither human nor Youkai...

"Oh, I see. Thank you for the direction." Louise says. "And pardon my intrusion." With that, she then turns around and leaves the shrine grounds.

After that brief scene, Marisa stands up from her seat, and approaches Reimu. "Ya feelin' anything odd 'bout her?"

"I'm not sure..." Reimu answers. "While she does emit a magical aura, it is not a type I'm familiar with..."

Mima suddenly appears in the middle of the shrine grounds, much to everyone's surprise. "Because that lady is Makaiese."

Both Reimu and Marisa froze there in surprise, not expecting Mima's appearance at all.

"Makaiese, as in..." Reimu tries to get a clearer answer.

"An inhabitant of Makai, the demon realm." Mima clears up for the shrine maiden trainee. "And she isn't the only one either."

"Not the only one?" Marisa asks.

Mima then points over her shoulders, at the human village in the distance. "There is a sudden influx of Makaiese all over Gensokyo, and even I don't know why. They're initially just doing tourist things and minding their own business, but then some of them decided to act like delinquents, and everything escalated from there..."

Hearing that, Reimu knew she has yet another Incident in her hands, as she stands up to accept her mission. "Is there anything we can do about it?"

Mima crosses her arms, and sighs. "Well...in order to find out why this is happening," The evil spirit says reluctantly. "we are going to Makai ourselves..."

* * *

And so begins the  _Mystic Square_  arc, where tourists are pouring into Gensokyo from Makai in large numbers, and they are causing some problems for the general population. How will Reimu and Marisa deal with this? By going to Makai to kick some demon butts, of course!

It has already been mentioned in a previous chapter that Mima and Shinki knew each other. So what is going on between the two of them, and why does Mima seem so reluctant to go to Makai again? You'll find the answer soon enough.

And again with the Yamato thing here. It's as if the term "Japanese" doesn't exist in Gensokyo. Then again, a realm that's been isolated from the general world since the medieval days is going to develop its vocabulary independently from the rest of the world.

So now we've learned that Marisa's witch friends are called Ako, Fey, Rey, Markle, and Suza, we're going to need a name for these little rascals as a collective, like how Nitori's Kappa friends are called the Kappa Mob as a collective. I think I'll call them the Little Witch Mob. Hmm, I wonder what that might be referencing...

Speaking of, are the Little Witch Mob basically pushing the ReiMari ship? And Suza has no problems with two girls kissing each other, so...

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	65. Persona Non Grata

**Shinki's Castle; Pandemonium, Makai.**

Standing by herself on the roof of her castle, the ruling demon goddess of Makai watches over the realm's capital city, which she considers to be a work of art and her finest inanimate creation. In her opinion, no other city in the world could possibly match the city of Pandemonium. Of course, she also knows that Pandemonium is also the only city in Makai, making it legally a city-state.

**Ruling Goddess of Makai**

**Shinki**

"The ideal city to be set up as a tourist spot~" The demon goddess, Shinki, tells herself.

"Mistress, I have come with the reports on the tourist agency you've just established." A voice spoke to her from behind.

Shinki turns around to see the familiar long blond hair and red maid uniform of her stoic maid-slash-bodyguard.

**The Intangible Demon Maid**

**Yumeko**

"The very same reports you asked for..." The demon maid, Yumeko, tells her mistress, as she hands a ledgers book over.

"Oh, Yumeko, my dear~" Shinki tells the demon maid. "You don't need to just literally pop out of thin air when I'm not expecting you~"

Yumeko remains stoic. "It was you who gave me that ability, mistress..." She reminds Shinki, while still holding the ledgers book. "The report, mistress."

"Oh. That'll do, my dear." Shinki says, taking the ledgers book from Yumeko's hand. "Anything else?"

Yumeko clears her throat before speaking, "It appears that the improper behavior of some of the tourists have drawn the ire of the people of Gensokyo."

"Oh, that sounds bad." Shinki reacts, clearly underestimating what she just heard.

"People such as the evil spirit from before." Yumeko adds.

That's what caused Shinki to freeze. "The evil spirit...Mima?"

"That is correct..." Yumeko says. "And she seems to be heading toward one of the gateways, bringing her disciple and a shrine maiden with her."

"Oh, that can't be good." Shinki says, still underestimating what she heard. "But Sara should be able to deal with them." She reassures her maid-slash-bodyguard.

Yumeko clearly doubts her mistress' treatment of the situation, but follows through anyway. "As you say, my mistress..."

"Oh, and before you leave, dear..." Shinki adds suddenly. "Do you mind going to see how my dear Alice is doing?"

Yumeko didn't say anything in response. She simply nods in acknowledgement of the order before literally fading away.

...

**Mysterious Path; Gensokyo**

"Personal...non...great?" Reimu repeats what Mima just told her, garbling up the pronunciation of the foreign-sounding term in the process, as the translation spell isn't doing quite a good job at translating it.

" _Persona non grata_ ," Marisa corrects the shrine maiden trainee. "or 'unwelcome person', means that someone was kicked out of a place, and ain't gonna be welcomed back any time soon." The witch follows up with a definition. "But," She then turn toward Mima and asks. "why are you  _non grata_  in Makai, Miss Mima?"

"There was a disagreement." That is all Mima would say on the matter.

"On what?" Marisa, curious about the subject, asks. "What could be such serious business that they kicked you out for?"

Mima didn't answer to that. She simply keeps her mouth shut.

"Not in the mood to discuss, I guess." Reimu says.

Mima suddenly comes to a halt. Reimu and Marisa did the same reflexively.

"You will find out soon enough..." The evil spirit tells them, as she looks on at what appears to be a large boulder in the middle of the path.

Reimu and Marisa both stares at the boulder, asking many questions in their minds about what is going on.

"I know what you two are thinking." Mima interrupts the girls' thoughts. "This isn't a real boulder..."

All of a sudden, two women in fancy clothes and carrying baggage with them emerged from the boulder, walking past the trio without paying any attention to them. Reimu and Marisa watches those two women slowly leave the scene, and keeps looking at their direction for a while even as they're no longer visible.

"Okay, that was pretty weird..." Marisa comments.

"An illusion?" Reimu wonders as she turns her attention back on the boulder.

"Combined with a portal, yes." Mima fills it in for the shrine maiden trainee.

The reason for disguising the portal is very easy to get, so Reimu didn't ask why it is the case. "So we just walk through this?" She asks a different question.

"Yes, pure and simple." Mima says, as she leads the way by heading toward the boulder. Or rather, the illusory boulder that disguised the portal, as the evil spirit simply disappeared into it.

After seeing her teacher going in, Marisa slowly approaches the illusory boulder, attempting to tap its false surface with her broomstick and sees it phasing through instead.

"Whaddya think?" The witch asks as Reimu for opinion.

Reimu walks closer to the illusory boulder, stopping just before it. "Only one way to find out..." Saying that, the shrine maiden trainee then continues walking, disappearing into it the same way Mima did.

...

**Dimensional Border Between Gensokyo and Makai**

Beyond the illusory boulder and the portal it masks is a jet black cave with tiny glowing spots all over it that made it resemble the various stars in a midnight sky.

Reimu and Marisa, who followed in right behind, are mesmerized by the sight they see.

"This freakin' puts Reimaden to shame." Marisa remarks.

Reimu looks around the cave in awe. "They look like the stars we always saw at night..." She voices her comment.

"They're not really stars," Mima, floating in front of the two girls, explains. "they're special kinds of crystals that glow in the dark." The evil spirit gestures at them to follow, as she moves on. "Come on..."

Reimu and Marisa both nods in acknowledgement. As they walk on, they notice that a small patch of yellow would appear under their feet for every step they take.

"What 'bout this, Miss Mima?" Marisa asks, as she demonstrates by gently tapping on the cave floor a few times.

Mima turns to look at what Marisa is talking about. After a brief moment of thinking, she came up empty. "I've no idea what causes them. Must be a recent artificial addition..."

Artificial. The word rings in Reimu's head as an indication that people - whether humans, Youkai, or demons - did this. And very recently, if Mima is correct. The shrine maiden trainee then takes the time to wonder if she can trust the evil spirit. After all, their first two encounters had them going at each others' throats.

The group continues their trek into the mystical cave. Aside from the cave starting to narrow at a section, everything in there looks exactly the same...

Until the narrowing section leads them into a small room-sized open space where the surrounding lacked any patterns aside from a single red circle in the middle of the black-shaded ground. Overlooking the space is a large pitch black flat surface that contrasts the jagged walls surrounding it, and very definitely looks artificial. Reimu and Marisa assumed that the flat surface is an entryway like the false water surface at Yuuka's mansion.

Reimu and Marisa also notes that there is someone standing right in front of the flat surface, as though guarding it.

"Is that a demon?" Reimu wonders as she looks at the pink-haired lady standing guard there.

"I'm thinkin' that's the gatekeeper..." Marisa says to Mima. "And she doesn't look too thrilled to see ya..."

The witch may be right, as the lady has her arms crossed in a stance reminiscent of a border patrol guard, and is glaring at Mima, all points to an indication that the evil spirit is  _not_  supposed to be here.

"Let me handle this, you two." Mima tells Reimu and Marisa as she approaches the pink-haired demon lady. "What's wrong, Sara?" She then greets the lady. "You look like you saw a demon hunter..."

**Gatekeeper of Makai**

**Sara**

"I saw  _you_ , alright..." The demon guard, called Sara, answers, still glaring at Mima. "I thought Miss Yumeko made you  _persona non grata_..."

Mima seems to scoff at what she hears. "Over such minor matter as me teasing Shinki's adoptive daughter?" She says with a dismissive hand wave. "That demon maid is just too overprotective..."

Sara cocks her eyebrows in response. "You call something like that 'teasing'? Clearly you have no idea how dangerous your 'teasing' was..."

"The heck didja do, Miss Mima...?" It is Marisa's turn to cock her eyebrows.

"Ask the one who tied me to a post in the middle of a bonfire, and called it 'fire training'..." Reimu reminds sarcastically as she nudges the witch with her gohei.

"You two shut up for now..."Mima tells off Reimu and Marisa. Then she turns her attention back on Sara. "I don't want to resort to violence, so let's negotiate, shall we?"

"What is there for you to negotiate with?" Sara, still hostile to the evil spirit, asks.

"It's simple." Mima says. "I'm just going to apologize to Yumeko and Alice. Then I have something to discuss with Shinki-"

"No." Sara doesn't even wait for Mima to finish before giving her answer.

Mima is definitely offended by being interrupted mid-sentence. "You're just a gatekeeper. Aren't you not supposed to make your own-"

And then the evil spirit is immediately interrupted mid-sentence again. This time via getting impaled in her gut by a sword that is as long as she is tall, of which both it and its red-clad wielder literally materialized out of thin air.

"What the?!"

Reimu, Marisa, Mima and even Sara are all surprised by what had just happened.

"Teleportation...?" Reimu wonders out loud, as she instinctively summons the Ying-Yang Orb and holds out her gohei.

"No. All forms of teleportation has indications." Marisa says tensely as she pulls out her magic wand and prepares an attack spell. "This one ain't got one, so it's more like-"

"Warping space..." Mima manages an answer, as she struggles to pull the big sword out of her gut, with no success as its wielder is much stronger.

"Miss Yumeko?! What are you doing here?!" Sara asks the sword wielder out of surprise.

"Repelling would-be intruders." The sword wielder coldly answers as she pulls the big sword out of Mima's gut.

With the sword pulled out, Mima immediately collapses onto the ground. There isn't any blood due to her being an evil spirit, but Mima appears to be in great pain.

"Miss Mima!" Marisa cries out, as she attempts to approach her mentor.

Before the witch can get close enough, however, she finds herself having a big sword pressed against the side of her neck, courtesy of Yumeko suddenly warping right in front of her. Marisa freezes in place as she feels blood slowly dripping out of where the blade is touching her neck.

"Marisa!" Reimu cries out, as she rapid-fires a dozen danmaku at Yumeko, who doesn't even bother to dodge as the danmaku goes right through her harmlessly. Reimu then switches to throwing Ofuda at the demon maid, and those too went right through her harmlessly. Finally, the shrine maiden trainee launches the Ying-Yang Orb at Yumeko, and  _that_  also went through her harmless.

Yumeko then counters by...not doing anything physically. Rather, several identical-looking big swords suddenly materializes all around Reimu, forming a cage of blades and trapping her inside with no room to move without getting cut.

"Mima the evil spirit is not welcomed in Makai, and so are everyone associated with her." Yumeko threatens. "Leave now, for this is your only warning. If you enter Makai, a fate worse than death awaits you..."

Finishing her threat, Yumeko then fades out of existence, taking all of her big swords along with her.

No longer having a sword pressed against her neck, Marisa quickly puts a hand to the wound to inspect it. The cut is very shallow and won't be a big deal, but for now she has another thing to be concerned about.

"Miss Mima!" The witch quickly approaches her mentor, then begins dragging the evil spirit back toward the cave entrance. "C'mon, Reimu, we need to get her outta here!" She frantically tells the shrine maiden trainee.

Reimu is certainly scared by the experience just now, so she obliged with no second thoughts, and went to help Marisa get Mima outside.

As Reimu and Marisa made their getaway with Mima in tow, Sara stood at her position, mouth still agape from how Yumeko handled the matters.

"Miss Yumeko..." The demon guard mutters. "That was a bit too much for those two children..."

...

**Mysterious Path; Gensokyo**

Upon emerging from the illusory boulder, Reimu and Marisa then drags Mima toward a nearby tree, and sits her against it.

"Talk to me, Miss Mima!" Marisa says frantically.

Mima raises her right hand as a response, not weakly but not still weaker than normal. "Silly girl. I'm already dead." She says. "That stab weakened me, but it won't un-ghost me."

Hearing that, Marisa breathes a sigh of relief. "Good to know. Ya had me worried there..."

"Who was that?" Reimu says. "That red-clad blonde demon maid...I couldn't sense her approach, she  _literally_  appeared out of thin air..."

"That was Yumeko..." Mima says as she puts a hand to her abdomen. "Shinki's deputy and  _de facto_  head of all affairs in Makai. The demon goddess may be legally the ruler of Makai, but that demon maid, with her ability over space itself, is the one calling the shots."

"Calling the shots?" Reimu and Marisa both asks together.

"Basically, everything that happens in Makai and to its citizens has to go through her, one way or another." Mima explains in simple terms. "You'll be amazed how much she can do with the ability to warp space..."

"Yeah, like  _this one_..." Marisa says as she points at the wound on her neck. "The healing spell ain't workin', so I'm afraid of her big freakin' swords just as much as I do her popping out of thin air."

"Demon magic. The same reason her swords can hurt me." Mima explains further.

Meanwhile, Reimu looks back at the illusory boulder and the portal that it hides, wondering about something.

"Now what?" The shrine maiden trainee then asks. "We know the Incident started in Makai, but what do we do from here?"

"We'll blast our way through..." Mima says as she tries to get up. "I just wanted to talk, but if that demon maid won't let us in..."

The evil spirit promptly collapses back down as the gut stab from earlier takes its toll on her.

"Ya ain't goin' anywhere after that stab, Miss Mima!" Marisa stops her mentor. She then takes her crystal orb out of her witch hat. "I'm gonna call Ako and gang, tell them to get'cha back home for recovery!"

And so Marisa takes a few steps away as she uses her crystal orb to call her friends for help.

In the meantime, Mima turns her attention on Reimu. The shrine maiden trainee notices, and turns to react.

"You know what to do, Reimu..." The evil spirit tells her.

* * *

And an extra long introduction to the demon realm of Makai.

Wow, that's some impression Yumeko left on both the characters and the readers. Shocked, right? With her literally popping out of thin air to gut-stab Mima, hold Marisa in a stick-up, and immobilizing Reimu (in a sword cage similar to Yorihime's from  _Silent Sinner in Blue_ ), all in the span of a minute, with neither of them even realizing what is going on, you know this version of Yumeko is definitely not the kind to take any shits.

Speaking of which, I gave Yumeko the ability to warp space, since just intangibility and sword-throwing is not enough for someone who's supposedly calling all the shots in Makai. So now you have a sword-throwing intangible demon maid who isn't just capable of warping herself all over the place, but can warp other things (such as swords) into where she wants them to be.

And sorry about Mima getting wounded. With all the magic powers she has, there is just no way I can't not see her go all spells-blazing in Makai, and open a can of whoopass on everyone she comes across. She would break the story by being Mary Sue-tier powerful in this story arc, so I had to incapacitate her in some way.

Now what kind of teasing did Mima pull on Alice that got her declared  _persona non grata_  in Makai, with Yumeko threatening to make her deader than dead because of it?

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterwords end here._


	66. Before the Shadows

**Mysterious Path; Gensokyo**

After Marisa called Ako and gang for help, the Little Witches quickly arrived and, despite Mima's insistence, dragged the wounded evil spirit away (though they had some difficulty with the dragging).

Reimu and Marisa watches as the Little Witches disappeared in the distance with Mima in tow. The duo then turns toward each other.

"Now what are we gonna do?" Marisa asks.

Reimu turns to look at the illusory boulder that disguised a portal to Makai, then back at Marisa.

"Duty calls." The shrine maiden trainee says. "This is the responsibility of a Hakurei shrine maiden, and I plan to end this Incident even if I'm still just a trainee."

Marisa cocks her eyebrows upon hearing that. "Ya kiddin', right?" She says. "I know we ain't got anyone else qualified for the job, but didn't ya see what that space-warping demon maid did to Miss Mima, and you," She then points at the bandages on her neck that was used to cover the wound from earlier. "and I?"

"I know." Reimu answers. "Like I said, duty calls."

Marisa frowns. "I wonder if this attitude runs in your family..."

"Shut up, you  _gaijin_..." Reimu rebukes as she taps the witch's head with her gohei. "And please redo your hair. Who covers half of their face with their own hair?"

"What's so wrong with that?!" Marisa argues, as she pushes her face-covering bangs aside.

The two girls then approaches the illusory boulder, and stops right before it. They then turn to look at each other.

"Ya sure 'bout this?" Marisa asks, having second thoughts.

"I'm ready..." Reimu answers. "Are you?"

...

**Dimensional Border between Gensokyo and Makai**

The girls, after solidifying their decision, steps into the mystical cave again. This time with the intention to get to the bottom of the Incident despite Yumeko's violent and brutal warnings.

Sara remains at her post in front of the black surface that acted as the entrance to Makai.

"I thought Miss Yumeko has warned you to stay away..." Sara tells the girls.

"She'd have to do more than that, then." Reimu replies.

"Well, we've got a job to do," Marisa declares at Sara. "and step one requires us to kicks your behind!"

If Sara made any reaction to the girls' statements, it isn't immediately obvious to anyone present. "Why do you want to go to Makai, anyway?" She asks.

"Well, your countrymen...or is it women?" Reimu explains. "Anyway, the 'tourists' from Makai are causing all sorts of trouble in Gensokyo, and we need to know what is going on."

Sara just stands there, as though waiting for something else. "That's it?"

"Yep, that's it." Marisa answers.

Sara looks over her shoulders at the the entrance to Makai, then backs at Reimu and Marisa.

"I know nothing about the tourist agency that Lady Shinki started..." The demon guard says, standing firmly over her position. "However, Miss Yumeko's warnings still stand. All those associated with Mima the evil spirit are not allowed into Makai."

Reimu frowned. "When this is all over, go pressure Mima into telling you what she did in Makai..." She whispers to Marisa.

"I'm gonna  _interrogate_  her instead." Marisa whispers back. "But first..."

The witch then pulls out her magic wand, and points it at Sara.

"SLEEP!"

On declaration, Marisa fires off a spell in danmaku form at Sara.

The demon guard knows there is no way she can dodge the spell, so she puts her arms out in a defensive stance, and braced herself.

Marisa's spell scores a direct hit on Sara. However, it has absolutely no effect. Sara is still on her two feet, and still wide awake.

"You will have to do better than that." Sara says as she gets out of a defensive stance and gets ready to attack.

Marisa's reaction to her spell not working at all is to frown. "Freakin' unbelievable!" She complains.

Reimu takes this as the cue to start attacking. She begins by firing danmaku at Sara.

Once again, Sara shrugs off the danmaku despite taking all of them straight to her body (granted, she has time to brace herself). The demon guard then retaliates by sending out a ball of dark energy at the girls.

Reimu and Marisa dodges the dark energy danmaku by taking off into the air (though they don't get very high because the space is only the size of a room). From midair, they watch the dark energy impact a section of the cave walls and obliterating it in a large explosion, showering the area with debris.

Reimu then follows up by throwing several Ofuda at Sara. Marisa joins in on the attack by adding some magic missiles to the barrage.

The demon guard intercepts all of those projectile throwing a series of rapid-fire punches, each launching out smaller versions of the same dark energy danmaku from before, taking out every Ofuda and magic missiles that are meant for her. After dealing with that, Sara takes off into the air, with a fist held out, as she charges toward Reimu and Marisa.

Seeing Sara charging toward them like a battering ram, Reimu and Marisa tries to fire as many danmaku at the demon guard before moving out of her way at the last second.

 _BAM!_  Sara impacts the cave wall with a force equivalent to that of a cannonball, sending out a shock wave that expands in all directions. The shock wave knocks Reimu and Marisa off balance, throwing them against the opposite end of the space, as they then tumble onto the ground.

"Ow! That hurts, yannow!" Marisa complains after having hit the ground bottom-first.

"Of course it hurts, Marisa!" Reimu says as she stands back up.

The shrine maiden trainee follows through by summoning the Ying-Yang Orb and launching it toward Sara.

Sara tries to intercept the Ying-Yang Orb by firing off another dark energy danmaku at it. When that didn't work, she resorts to gathering powers in her right hand before punching the Orb with it. She successfully deflects the Ying-Yang Orb this time, but in a reaction similar to an ordinary human throwing a bare-handed punch at a boulder, this still hurts quite a bit, as she shakes her right hand afterwards to dissipate the pain.

Seeing an opportunity, Reimu releases another barrage of Ofuda, which Marisa backs up with a barrage of magic missiles.

Sara once again attempts to intercept the barrage by rapid-firing dark energy danmaku. But because her still pained right arm couldn't throw punches as rapidly as before, she ends up launching less dark energy danmaku and thus intercept less of the barrage. One Ofuda slips through her defense, and the ensuing explosion stuns her just long enough for another to slip past and hit her, followed by a magic missile and another...

Sara is blown out of the air by those explosive impact. She manages to muster much of her strength to land on her two feet, only to immediately collapse on her knees.

"Heh, you just got lucky..." Sara says defiantly as she gets back on her feet. "But I'm not done yet..."

Marisa cocks her eyebrows. "Just when will our opponents ever give up instead of fighting to the very end?" She mutters.

"Rikako and Yumemi did give up when I beat them..." Reimu points out.

"That's because they didn't use magic at all." Marisa argues.

The two girls then turn their attention back on Sara.

"As I was saying, I'm not done yet..." The demon guard says as she gets ready to attack again. "This is my duty as the gatekeeper of Makai to keep out intru-"

Marisa decides to suddenly interrupt Sara mid-sentence by throwing a spherical flask at her, then shoots it with a regular danmaku when it gets close to her. Upon being shot, the flask erupts in an explosion of super-cold air, freezing Sara in a block of ice.

"Just cool down already, ya moron!" Marisa quips after that.

Reimu is glad that the fight is over. But at the same time, she frowned at the way it was ended. "Why didn't you think of doing this earlier? Could have avoided a fight altogether..."

Marisa scratches her head. "Admittedly, that totally slipped my mind..."

The two then notices that the ice block encasing Sara is starting to crack, an indication that the demon guard is still fully conscious and attempting to break free.

"And it apparently ain't good enough." Marisa then deadpans.

Having no desire to resume fighting Sara (and knowing that Marisa's freeze bomb trick may not work a second time), Reimu elected to just launch the Ying-Yang Orb at the demon guard while she is still trying to break free.

The Ying-Yang Orb hits Sara in her head right before she can break free, completely shattering the ice block while pushing her all the way into a section of the cave walls.

The impact against the cave wall is heavy enough that it causes a tremor which triggers a partial cave-in, forcing Reimu and Marisa to hunker down and brace themselves. The tremor ceases after a short period of time, so does the cave-in, as the cave itself holds up. Sara wasn't so lucky, though (being right in ground zero at the moment), as she is revealed to be buried under a pile of rocks, with only her head and right hand jutting out of the pile.

Reimu and Marisa sees that Sara is attempting to get out of the pile, and prepares to fire a volley of danmaku to stop her when she is inexplicably and suddenly knocked out by a piece of rock that lands directly on her head.

With the fight over for real, Reimu and Marisa both sighs in relief.

"Damn, Reimu. Ya could've buried us under miles of rock..." Marisa complains to the shrine maiden trainee.

"It's not like I've got any choice in taking her down quickly, do I?" Reimu argues as she collects the Ying-Yang Orb. "And I don't want to drag on the fight with such a powerful opponent..."

Marisa glances at the now unconscious Sara. "I see your point. But next time, would ya  _at least_  warn me before trying something like that again?"

"That will depend on whether I have the chance to." Reimu says.

* * *

And so ends Reimu and Marisa's battle against Sara, where they'll then begin their adventure into Makai. What awaits our heroines in the demon realm?

With the  _Mystic Square_  arc being the final arc for  _Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream_ , I've decided to make the fights against the MS cast more difficult for Reimu and Marisa, along with giving them serious disadvantages in order to get that climatic feel running.

You're probably wondering: "But Louise showed up at the Hakurei Shrine two chapters ago! How are you going to make her the heroines' opponent after Sara without pulling some teleportation BS?" The answer: she  _won't_  be Reimu and Marisa's opponent after Sara (but I won't kick her out for the same reason I kicked Kikuri and Matenshi out of the  _HRtP_  and  _SoEW_  arc). She'll show up again with a not-so-minor role later before the heroines have to deal with Alice. And that's all I'd say for now because spoilers.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	67. Into the Shadows

**Dimensional Border between Gensokyo and Makai**

Reimu stands by herself as she looks into the pitch black surface that served as one of many entrances to Makai. Meanwhile, Marisa is busy tying up the still unconscious Sara.

"Who knows what kinds of hazards are waiting for us behind this gateway..." Reimu wonders.

"Uh, the pissed-off citizens of Makai?" Marisa says after she's done tying up Sara. "We're technically breakin' in, after all."

"True." Reimu nods. "Who's the hero, and who's the villain in this Incident... Nobody knows..."

"Unless ya count the tourists' acts of vandalism as villainous actions, if Miss Mima is right..." Marisa adds, as she approaches the shrine maiden trainee.

"I would say it is the Makaiese demons' irresponsibility in this case." Reimu adds, as she holds her gohei tightly. "And yet it is  _my_  responsibility to take care of their irresponsibility..." She then complains.

The two girls then stands there silently, both staring into the gateway to Makai as they ponder about what to do next.

"Still not sure if ya gonna go ahead?" Marisa breaks the silence and asks Reimu.

"Of course I'm going in." Reimu replies. "It's just that, Makai being a different realm, I cannot expect its people to follow the same rules as Gensokyo..."

"Then we just gotta be careful, then!" Marisa says as she waves her magic wand. "See ya later~" She then hops onto her flying broomstick, and flies into the pitch black surface, disappearing into it.

"Hey, Marisa, at least wait for me!" Reimu calls out as she follows the witch into the pitch black surface.

...

**The Vina Ruins; outskirts of Pandemonium, Makai**

When Reimu emerges from the other side of the pitch black surface, the first thing she sees is Marisa's flying broomstick being embedded partway into a small rocky outcrop, with the witch herself dangling upside down by a foot on a rope. Oddly enough, Marisa's skirt remains upright in a way that is clearly and definitely defying gravity.

"'Ey, um...little help here?" Marisa says to Reimu.

Reimu looks at Marisa for a bit, then smirks as she crosses her arms. "I guess you didn't watch where you're flying." She jokes. "So why can't you free yourself?"

"Because I dropped my wand, ya idiot." Marisa replies while pointing directly below her, where her magic wand lies right next to where her hat is on the ground. "Just lemme down, will ya?"

"As you say~" Reimu responds, before taking shots at the rope that Marisa is dangling on.

"Hey, wait! Not like th-" Marisa panics for a moment before Reimu's danmaku severs the rope, causing the witch to fall down and hit the ground head-first with a thud. "Ow! Ya could've just held on to me before shootin' that rope!" She complains as she gets up from the ground and rubs her head where it hurts. "Ya know I can't fly on my own!"

Reimu finds this amusing. "Then learn how to fly on your own."

Marisa's eyebrows lower. "How'd ya learn to fly like that, anyway?" She wonders as she picks up her hat and magic wand.

"I'm not sure myself." Reimu's smirk fades slightly as she shrugs at the question. "It just came to me while I was fighting this fallen angel several months ago..."

"Just like that?" Marisa asks. "It just came to ya?"

"Yeah..." Reimu answers.

Marisa then goes to pull her flying broomstick out of the small rocky outcrop it is partially embedded in. It's not a tight fit, so she is able to pull it out with little effort. "Yanno, I sorta learn a lotta spells like that too. Strange minds work alike, eh?"

"Between a pure-blood Yamato and a  _gaijin_? I don't think so." Reimu argues. She then looks around the vicinity. "That aside, what is this place?"

As the two girls look around, they see that they are currently in a wide open space with a massive gateway that is missing its doors and has been eroded by time. If there was ever a structure here, the gateway is literally all that's left of it. Off the distance, there appears to be a city bathed in a slight crimson glow, which makes it stand out quite a bit in the starry sky. Though whether that's really a sky or not up above cannot be determined from their current vantage point.

"I reckon that city is where everything started." Marisa points out. "Though who are we gonna talk to, or  _fight_ , when we get there?"

Reimu raises her gohei over her eyes. "I guess we'll just beat everyone up until one of them points us the right way..."

"I wouldn't recommend that..." A familiar voice says from behind the girls.

Reimu and Marisa turns around, and see Louise with her baggage by her side.

"Oh, I didn't mean to surprise or intimidate you..." Louise apologizes. "It's just that we Makaiese don't take violent intruders very kindly..."

"Uh, yeah, point noted..." Marisa says awkwardly. "Hey, wait. Didn't ya just head off to Misty Whateverthatis?"

"I'm just coming back home to pick up something I forgot..." Louise says, as she walks past the girls. "If you're heading off to the capitol, you should be careful. There are some things that don't react nicely to non-Makaiese." Saying that, the demon tourist takes to the air, with her baggage in tow, and then heads off toward the city.

Reimu and Marisa stands there awkwardly as they try to process their experience just now.

"Yanno, for a member of a species commonly stereotyped as total jerks  _at best_ , she's a pretty decent fellow..." Marisa remarks.

"Yet she's kind enough to warn us, in a friendly way, that Makai might be dangerous." Reimu comments.

"Oh, whaddya know?" Marisa says as she hops onto her flying broomstick. "We know the culprit's at that city, and we're gonna be kicking butts and taking names anyway!"

With that, the witch shot off toward the city by herself.

" _Foreigners..._ " Reimu utters under her breath before taking off after Marisa.

As she is leaving, the shrine maiden trainee fails to notice a dozen pair of eyes peeking at her from various hiding places all over the ruins...

...

**Shinki's Castle; Pandemonium, Makai**

Shinki is still standing on the balcony of her castle, enjoying the view of Makai's capitol city of Pandemonium. Whether this is due to the demon goddess's ego or just her being too simple-minded to think of anything else to pass time with, that is a question even her loyal servant, Yumeko, sometimes wonder about. For someone who literally created an entire city-state with her own powers, Shinki seldom handles anything herself.

"Although the evil spirit did not return, the two young ladies following her did..." Yumeko tells Shinki.

Shinki did not avert her gaze on the city. "Oh, I'm sure Sara can handle them~" She muses.

"I would not bother to tell you this were it not for the fact that Sara has been knocked down." Yumeko informs.

That still doesn't garner much attention from Shinki. "Then I'm sure the fairies will annoy them into submission~" She muses again.

"I would not trust those lowly lifeforms to get anything done." Yumeko makes a carefully worded objection.

Still, Shinki doesn't budge. "Then I guess you should just inform the city's magicians to get ready to punish some naughty girls~"

Yumeko doesn't say anything else. Her patience is nearly depleted, and it's a wonder she hasn't expressed it yet.

"Anything else you'd like to tell me, my dear?" Shinki, still watching Pandemonium, asks.

Yumeko clears her throat before just spitting it out. "It appears that, despite the security measures, the young mistress has sneaked out of the castle again..."

Shinki's response is to slowly turn toward the demon maid. The demon goddess's smile seems to be faltering a bit. This, of all things, got her attention.

"My dear Alice left the castle on her own,  _again_?"

...

**Outskirts of Pandemonium, Makai**

On the way to the city...

"Oh, almost forgot..." Marisa says, as she reach into her hat to pull out a crystal orb.

"Asking Mima for something?" Reimu, flying next to the witch, asks.

"Yep." Marisa says. "She came here before, and apparently enough times that she got to know the head honcho and her freakin' scary maid." She begins activating the crystal orb. "I wanna ask her if there's anything we should watch out for..."

The crystal orb fails to connect to Mima.

"Hmm, that's weird." Marisa wonders as she tries again, getting the same result. "Maybe I should try Ako and gang..."

The witch tries to contact her witch friends, and none of the calls connect.

Marisa then realizes what is going on. "Too much interference here, I guess..." She remarks as she puts the crystal orb away.

"So I guess we are really on our own here, then." Reimu says. "Better be attentive to our surroundings, in that case."

As soon as Reimu finishes saying that, the girls notice large amounts of danmaku being fired from behind them, whizzing past their bodies.

The girls look back, and sees what's undeniably a huge swarm coming toward them. The entities making up the swarm are mostly crimson in color, but they're undeniably fairies.

"That's a lotta fairies..." Marisa deadpans.

"Way too much, I would say..." Reimu says, before firing at the swarm of Makai fairies.

* * *

A chapter to introduce Makai to the readers.

Next time: Reimu and Marisa deals with the fairies' more violent Makaiese cousins, and then runs into a puppeteer who wants them to die for her.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._


	68. Fairy Brutality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not actually very brutal, but it involves riot-style mobbing by the Makai fairies. Depending on how you see riots, reader's discretion IS advised, even if only for two sentences, give or take.

**Outskirts of Pandemonium, Makai**

When Louise warned that some things in Makai don't react very kindly to non-Makaiese, she is definitely right about one of those "some things".

The Makai fairies are basically identical to Gensokyo fairies in every way, with the one exception being that they are more aggressive than their Gensokyo counterpart.

"Same personality. Same firepower. Same fragility. Same stupidity." Marisa recounts as she helps Reimu take down some of the approaching swarm of Makai fairies. "But a heck lotta more fightin' spirit!"

"I know!" Reimu says, as she releases a few Ofuda to blow up some of the Makai fairies. "These fairies are more violent than the ones from the Incident with Kazami Yuuka!"

Try as they might, the swarm of Makai fairies proves to be too massive, even with Marisa's Orerries Solar System spell pumping out enough danmaku to demolish a fortress. The Makai fairies are eventually able to close the distance, as they start swarming around the girls like a swarm of hornets.

With the Makai fairies attacking from all directions and clinging onto them, Reimu and Marisa has to resort to swatting at the fairies and pulling them off. However, that is a lot of fairies to deal with, and it becomes difficult to do anything when a dozen fairies are clinging on to them and pinching at their skin.

Of course, with all those fairies clinging onto Reimu, some of them eventually decide to take a chance at her ribbon, as they try to pull it out of her hair.

"DON'T TOUCH MY RIBBON!" The shrine maiden trainee becomes furious with the Makai fairies making an attempt on her ribbon, but is unable to do anything about it as her mobility is restricted by all those fairies clinging onto her.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Reimu catches a glimpse of Marisa managing, amidst being bear-hugged by a dozen Makai fairies, to pull a flask out from under her hat. The flask doesn't look to be the same kind that explodes into a mist of flash-freeze, but nobody have any moment to find out.

"Reimu, close your ears and look away!" Marisa calls out, before managing to throw the flask out.

Reimu had no moment to find out why she should do that, so she did as told. Marisa does the same.

The flask then erupts in a blinding flash that also emits some kind of screeching noise that could be heard despite having one's ears covered. When both phenomenons subsided ten seconds later, Reimu finds that nearly all of the Makai fairies have gone limp and are falling out of the air.

Reimu then flicks off a Makai fairy that is clinging tightly onto her ribbon. "Marisa, what the heck did you use just now?" The shrine maiden trainee asks as she reties her ribbon properly.

"Something I discovered by accident..." Marisa explains while picking off a Makai fairy that is still dangling on her flying broomstick. "Seein' some damn bright lights and hearin' some damn loud noises at exactly the same time seems to knock living things out for some reason."

The girls very quickly takes notice of another swarm of Makai fairies approaching them. This swarm is much smaller than the previous one, but it is still very big.

"No matter where they come from, fairies just ain't gonna give up, do they?" Marisa deadpans.

"Genji once told me that if you don't see a single fairy, it means something is very, very wrong." Reimu points out. "But the main point is, we always have to fight them..."

The girls then get right back to blasting at the swarm of Makai fairies, while evading return fires at the same time.

"There's still too many of them!" Reimu shouts as she struggles to keep the swarm at bay.

"I see a ravine down there!" Marisa says, pointing at a ravine not too far away. "Maybe we can hide there!"

Reimu nods to the witch. She knows that going into a confined space offers little mobility, but staying out in the open with a massive number of foes right on her trail is a worse option. So she chose the former, and went toward the aforementioned ravine.

Marisa tosses out another flask at the swarm of Makai fairies before quickly turning around and following Reimu.

Another set of blinding flash and screeching noise erupted from where the flask is, knocking a fraction of the swarm out of the air. This buys Reimu and Marisa some time to get closer to the ravine. The Makai fairies that didn't get knocked out continues to give chase for the girls, firing danmaku at them at the same time.

The ravine isn't very far away, but having to dodge increasing numbers of hostile danmaku shots while approaching made it felt like it is for the girls.

Reimu spins around to face the swarm of Makai fairies and fire danmaku at them, letting momentum and gravity help her cover some of the distance to the ravine. Marisa also spins around to fire at the swarm, except that in her case she is flying backwards instead of falling (after her experience at Mugenkan, she'd rather not fall a long distance again).

The girls continues to fire at the Makai fairies until they determine that there are way too many for anything in their arsenal to be effective. They instead decides to stop firing, and turns back to face the ravine as they put their focus on getting there (and dodge danmaku fired by the Makai fairies).

Then something strange happened: when Reimu and Marisa enters the ravine, the entire swarm of Makai fairies refused to follow the girls in. The Makai fairies didn't even take potshots at Reimu and Marisa, they just decided to break formation and head away from the ravine.

Marisa didn't understand what is going on. "Huh? Why the heck are they turnin' 'round?"

Reimu initially doesn't understand either. But then she remembers something. "I'm just guessing right now, but when I got close to where I first met Konngara and her Fallen Angel friend months ago, the fairies there and then would rather vacate the Fairy Forest -  _their own territory_ , and didn't come back until I defeated those two..." The shrine maiden trainee says. "That could mean  _something_  in here scares them so much that they'd rather lose us than to come closer."

Marisa, taking a huge gulp, looks around the inside of the ravine. It doesn't look any different than those in the over world. For now, at least. "I sure am hopin' it ain't some vicious beast..."

...

One has to admit that, for an exotic magical realm, Makai's geography sure is very bland, at least when compared to Gensokyo's. Some blue crystals here and there provides some natural lighting for the ravine, but that's about it.

"Now I understand why the Makaiese wanted to tour Gensokyo." Reimu remarks as she traverses the ravine alongside Marisa.

"'Cause their homeland is pretty freakin' boring." Marisa remarks also. "Would've thought they'd have some really fancy-lookin' landscapes and weird-lookin' plant life 'round here..."

The girls continue to traverse the ravine. The silence gives it a rather eerie feel.

"You know, Marisa..." Reimu tries to start a conversation in an attempt to relieve the boredom. "There's something I want to ask you about..."

Marisa takes notice. "Oh? Go ahead, shoot." The witch responds.

"Has Mima ever done... something... that made you angry?" Reimu goes and asks the question she's been thinking.

Marisa scoffs in a way that suggests she didn't like the answer she's about to give. "Well, ya kicked my butt back at Reimaden after kicking my friends' as well. Miss Mima punished us with a series of rigorous training." She says, then puts her hand on her hips. "I've told ya already, haven't I?"

Reimu giggles a bit upon hearing that. "Not that one." She then adds. "Anything else before that?"

Marisa seems to pause a bit. "I dunno. Can't seem to remember. Maybe it was something right after I drank some tea that Fey and Rey spiked with memory-wiping potions as a prank." She scratches her head as she thinks of it. "I can't recall what it was, but I do remember it was right before drinking that spiked tea..."

Reimu...has no idea how to respond to that. "Perhaps you should make friends with less troublesome people..." She remarks.

"Perhaps I can make friends with you?"

A voice speaking from out of nowhere made Reimu and Marisa stop and look around for its source. The voice, as far as they can tell, is spoken in a similar foreign accent as Louise's, only this one is much thicker, to the point that it sounds more comical than creepy.

Then they spot the source of the voice as they look up. Standing on a rocky outcrop is a little(-looking) girl wearing a white blouse with a blue suspender skirt, and a matching headband with a ribbon on the side. She has neatly-cut short blonde hair, and blue eyes. She seems to be hugging a book of some kind that has a lock with a keyhole on it.

**Little Puppeteer of Death**

**Alice Margatroid**

"Almost forgot. My name is Alice Margatroid." The little girl introduces herself, with that same comically thick foreign accent. "Would you like to have some tea?"

* * *

Did Marisa just discover flash grenades (the kind modern police SWAT and military Spec Ops uses to stun a room full of bad guys) by accident? Maybe, since you'll never know what a lab accident can inspire you to create (as many inventors from the 1800s and 1900s can attest to). But still, a magical weapon that works on scientific principles? You certainly don't see that often.

In my mind, Alice would've been a rather creepy person, with her title being "Little Puppeteer of Death" and all...were it not for the fact that I also portray her with a  _hilariously thick_  British accent (which is rather hard to show in print form, so you as the reader can only imagine it).

Why a British accent? Well, first of all, she just doesn't look like a Romanian to me at all (even if her theme song in  _PCB_  is called  _The Doll Maker of Bucharest_  (Bucharest being the capital of Romania). Second, she's very definitely a reference to  _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ , which is a  _British_  fairy tale (although Zun says she was based on  _Shin Megami Tensei_ 's Alice instead), so it is impossible for me to see her as anything but British.

And why a hilariously thick British accent?

Simple: rule of funny. To quote Joss Whedon, director of  _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_  and  _The Avengers_ _(2012)_ : "Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of god, tell a joke."

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the flash grenade part confuses you, here's something to help clear it up:  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stun_grenade


	69. Die For Me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I can no longer access Fanfiction Dot Net, the FF version of all my stories will be discontinued. Kindly repost this message in the Reviews section of my stories in FF so everyone else can get this message.
> 
> Update on 29th October 2018: I meant to say that I couldn't access FF Desktop mode anymore. Although FF App is still accessible, its document editor have bugs that makes it useless for uploading anything. Read this Tumblr post to find out why:  
> https://youngmaidenschronicles.tumblr.com/post/179332011549/bad-news-fanfiction-app-is-too-buggy-to-be

**Shinki's Castle; Pandemonium, Makai**

"Mistress Shinki, I have located the whereabouts of the Young Mistress." Yumeko reports to Shinki as she materializes in the demon goddess's personal living quarters.

Hearing about her daughter's disappearance when there's the threat of rampaging intruders at the same time (even if that last bit is an exaggeration) is probably the only thing that can make Shinki lose her easygoing, cheery mood. When she hears about Yumeko's report, she stopped her circling around of her living quarters and turns toward the demon maid.

"Is she at her usual place?" Shinki asks worriedly.

"A bit further away." Yumeko answers. The demon maid then realizes that she isn't clear enough about it. "But not too far. She is still within walking distance from her usual place."

Hearing that, Shinki breathes a sigh of relief. "Goodness. My dear little Alice had me worried there." She says. "Perhaps I should simply lock up the door to her room, like you've always advised." The demon goddess adds.

"She is, however, currently face-to-face with the intruders." Yumeko suddenly adds, which causes Shinki to freeze once again. "Should I go retrieve her and decapitate the intruders?"

...

**Outskirts of Pandemonium, Makai**

"Tea?" Reimu cocks her eyebrows on hearing Alice's offer. "As in the strange-tasting western kind?"

"Or the kind that can melt the drinker's innards?" Marisa adds, then winks at Reimu as she remembers that she said the exact same thing to the shrine maiden trainee back at the Hakurei Shrine.

Alice blinks. She finds what she just heard to be funny. Unexpected, but funny.

"Neither. I'm talking about playing House." Alice says. She then turns toward Marisa. "Why'd you think of that? Are you some kind of wicked witch?"

Marisa scoffs. "Nope, I'm still an apprentice." The witch then points at Alice, specifically her book. "What 'bout ya?"

"I'm not a witch, but I do magical puppetry." Alice says as a patchwork puppet pops into existence behind her. The puppet appears to be hovering there on its own with no strings - magical or otherwise - visible, but judging by its humanoid shape and the wing-like protrusion on its back, it could be the little puppeteer's attempt at emulating a fairy's shape.

"Cool." Marisa comments. "Ya gonna find it useful to have some extra helping hands."

Reimu, however, narrow her eyes and becomes a bit suspicious. "What are you doing in here? A ravine is no place for children like you to play around in..."

Another puppet pops into existence behind Alice. "I was looking for more puppets to play with," She says. Her lips then forms a happy smile. "and I think I've just found two~"

"Puppets to have tea with, eh? That sounds ni-" Marisa says, before her joke-making grin fades away as she realizes the implications of Alice's last statement. "Wait a minute, that's freakin' us, ain't it?"

Reimu also realizes the implications, and readies her gohei for a battle. "I think she wants to make us into her puppets,  _literally_."

Marisa instantly gets the message. "Uh, well then..." The witch turns to Alice. "I think I'm gonna-"

"No!" Alice interrupts. "I want you to have tea with me, as my puppets!"

The little puppeteer's patchwork puppets begins to radiate a large amount of magic energy, far more than anything else Reimu and Marisa have encountered up to this point.

Marisa gulps hard "Uh, Reimu? I think we pissed her off..." She then tells Reimu.

Reimu also gulps hard. "This is far more power than even Yuuka, or Mima..."

"Yep, not even Miss Mima is this powerfu-"

Hearing Mima's name did something to Alice. "Mima? As in the evil spirit who released scorpions into my room?!" The little puppeteer seems to become enraged.

"Uh, oh." Marisa knows things are about to get violent, as she gets her magic wand ready.

"Now," Alice says, as her puppets are now seen dual-wielding sharp-looking daggers. "would you please  _die for me_?"

 _Miss Mima, you really crossed the line with your idea of teasing!_  Marisa thought as she starts firing danmaku at Alice's position.

...

**Mima's House; Gensokyo**

"At-choo"

Mima sneezed all of a sudden, much to the surprise of the apprentice witches taking care of her. Some even starts to wonder what is going on with their currently bedridden teacher, knowing that it shouldn't be possible for an evil spirit like her.

"That was strange..." Mima remarks afterwards. "I don't breathe, so I shouldn't be able to sneeze..."

Mima then looks to her left, and sees Ako and her gang just standing there, staring at her dumbfounded.

"Don't you girls have something more useful to do?" The evil spirit tells the Little Witches. "No lessons today, so go play around, have your tea party at the Hakurei Shrine."

...

**Outskirts of Pandemonium, Makai**

Alice's little patchwork puppets turn out to be much stronger than their tiny size would suggest.

As one of the puppets lunges toward Reimu with its dual-daggers pointed forward, the shrine maiden trainee swerves to the side to evade the attack, and sees the puppet pulverize the boulder that was behind her moments ago.

The other puppet then lunges at Marisa. The witch directs all four orbs of her Orreries Solar System spell to fire at the puppet which, incredibly, shrugs off being hit by a hundred danmaku. As the puppet somehow penetrates the shield given to her by Orreries Solar System without destroying the multicolored orbs first (the shield didn't break, the puppet went through it as though it isn't there), Marisa had to veer to the side at the last second to avoid getting stabbed by the puppet.

Reimu and Marisa knows that Alice is controlling the puppets, so they both decide to fire at her, hoping that taking her out will render the puppets inert.

The danmaku bounces off a barrier that inexplicably formed around the little puppeteer.

This isn't surprising to either Reimu or Marisa, as the former has seen the latter using a similar defense when they fought in Reimaden those months ago.

"Don't you want to be  _my_ puppets~?" Alice says, followed with a giggle that was meant to be creepy-sounding but rendered not-so-creepy by her comical accent. "You can play with me, have as much tea as you want, and even live forever~!"

"Uh, no thanks. I'll choose getting eternal life by other ways." Marisa, crept out by Alice's speech, declines.

"So do I..." Reimu agrees with Marisa.

"Doesn't matter!" Alice says as her puppets regrouped by her sides. "I'll just be forceful, like Yumeko always did!" Saying that, the little puppeteer then tries to open her book.

Key word being  _try_ , as Alice could not get the book to open even the slightest bit. What follows in the next few minutes is the little puppeteer trying various methods, both physical and magical, to get her book to open, and all of them fails. Reimu and Marisa found it both awkward and hilarious as Alice tries everything she could think of.

Marisa can't help but pity the girl. "Maybe it's locked?" She points out.

Alice seems to realize that is the case, and stops trying to get the book opened.

"I guess I will have to ask Mum to open it for me..." Alice pouts. "But for now, I'm going to have you two as my puppets!"

The puppets drew their daggers again, and lunged at the girls.

Reimu tries to deal with the one approaching her by shooting it with danmaku. When that didn't work, the shrine maiden trainee swings her gohei at it in an attempt to bat it away. This one actually works, sending the puppet flying into a part of the ravine wall where it creates an indent upon impact. For good measure, Reimu then launches the Ying-Yang Orb at the puppet before it can remove itself from the indent, driving it even deeper into the ravine wall.

The Ying-Yang Orb then dislodges to reveal the flattened puppet, crushed so hard that some of its sewn-in patches have come loose, spilling its cotton fillings out. However, that didn't seem to kill it, as it quickly gets up and lunges at Reimu again.

The shrine maiden trainee quickly raises her gohei up, and brings it down tip-first on the puppet, pinning it to the rocky ground. The puppet struggles in an attempt to free itself, so Reimu finishes it off by dragging it across the rocky ground until the jagged surface shears the puppet's upper and lower body apart, wherein its dagger-wielding arms lay flat and it becomes motionless.

Marisa once again directs the multicolored orbs of her Orreries Solar System spell to fire at the puppet approaching her. That still doesn't work, so the witch had to dodge the puppet's stab, after which she retaliates by pulling out her magic wand and points it at the puppet point blank. "SLICE!" She declares as she casts a spell, only to hear the sound of glass shattering (an indication that the spell is flat out stopped by the puppet's own defense). "Dang it!" Marisa curses as she now struggles to dodge the puppets rapid-fire attempts at stabbing her.

Marisa lost track of how many times she had dodged the puppet's attacks, but when one of its attempts put it in front of her, she took the opportunity to point her magic wand it it again.

"Over here, ya ugly excuse of a doll!" Marisa shouts at the puppet before casting another spell. "COLDFIRE!"

This spell worked, as the puppet is ignited in Coldfire. The puppet turns around as it attempts to lunge at Marisa again, only to stop short of her face as the magic-removing flame consumes all of the magic that makes it move, and it immediately plummets to the ground, becoming motionless.

With both of Alice's magically animated puppets dealt with, Reimu and Marisa turns their attention on the little puppeteer.

Alice seems to be very sad that her puppets have been destroyed. "I-it took me weeks to make them!" She says as she starts sobbing. "Wh-why won't you die for me?!"

"Because I am NOT ready to die!" Reimu answers bluntly and, depending on how one sees it, cruelly.

"Me too!" Marisa follows up.

Even though the shrine maiden trainee and the witch have perfectly good reasons to say what they just said, it still comes off as very cruel to the young(-looking) and immature Alice.

And with that, she begins to cry loudly.

"Sheesh, what a spoiled rotten little bit...uh, brat!" Marisa remarks as she tries to ignore Alice and fly past her. "Are all children in Makai like this?" The witch wonders.

"You tell me..." Reimu answers, following right behind Marisa. "She looks like a little girl. Turns out that's exactly what sh-MARISA LOOK OUT!"

Reimu quickly rushes behind Marisa, putting herself between the witch and Yumeko who suddenly appeared with two large swords in her hands. Reimu then quickly raises her gohei up to block the demon maid's attack.

"Holy...!" Marisa exclaims as she notices Yumeko's sudden appearance and Reimu parrying her attack.

Reimu's parry proves to be no match for Yumeko's raw strength, as the shrine maiden trainee's defense is quickly overcame, and her gohei knocked out of her hands.

"I warned you to stay away from Makai, human." The demon maid says as she rings down her large swords for the finishing blow.

It was only the last second casting of "EXPLODE!" by Marisa that saved Reimu from being cut into pieces, the spell causing one of the large swords to explode in Yumeko's left hand and launching the demon maid away from her. 

Yumeko slid across the ground on her feet with enough force to leave a semi-cylindrical trail in her wake. It can then be glimpsed that Yumeko's left hand, although not bleeding and still firmly attached to her shoulder, is hanging loose, with the fingers bent at an impossible angle.

Alice, still crying, approaches Yumeko as she points at Reimu and Marisa. "Yumeko! They destroyed my puppets, and they won't play with me!"

Yumeko tries to stand up, but quickly collapses on her knees, dropping her remaining large sword at the same time.

"I would like to help you, Young Mistress..." Yumeko tells Alice. "But it seems that I have sustained some injuries."

Alice quickly notices the broken left hand. "How is that possible?! Mum made you the most powerful person in all of Makai!"

Yumeko grabs the little puppeteer with her still intact right hand. "They got lucky. For now, Mistress Shinki has ordered me to bring you back to her..."

"But-" Alice tries to argue, but then Yumeko disappears into thin air, taking the little puppeteer with her.

Yumeko and Alice's departure leaves Reimu and Marisa by themselves at the ravine.

"Ya alright?" Marisa turns and ask Reimu.

Reimu breathes a sigh of relief after that near-death experience. "I'm fine. You?"

Marisa appears to gulp first before answering, "As long as we don't run into that lady with the big freakin' swords again, I'm sound."

"I don't think she's in any condition to fight anyone with just one arm..." Reimu reassures, as she heads further into the ravine to find a safe path to the city.

Marisa takes her hat off to dust it clean, then puts it back on and follows Reimu. "I sure hope so..."

* * *

Sorry this took so long. I had unexpected changes to my schedule in real life that came so suddenly I didn't have time to announce.

And so Reimu and Marisa successfully defeats Alice Margatroid (or rather, her puppet flunkies) and avoids the fate of being turned into her puppets. Geez, this Alice seems much creepier than both canon and some fanworks, with her "be my puppets!" shtick and "Die for me!" line made so much creepier by the fact that she looks to be barely in her early 10s...

If you think a broken arm is going to put Yumeko out of commission, you are wrong...

Next up: Reimu and Marisa meets two of Makai's best magicians, whose relationship isn't so much different than their own.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update on 24th October 2018: so, yeah. Uh... I had a bit of a screw-up, and accidentally marked a perfectly good comment as Spam.  
> The contents of said comment is as follows:  
> "Is Ako a reference to Little Witch Academia's Kagari Atsuko?"
> 
> With reply from me, as follows:  
> "Yep. Good observation."
> 
> To the anonymous user who wrote that comment: I'm very sorry.
> 
> Update on 29th October 2018: The AO3 admins were kind enough to un-spam the comment for me, so that settles the problem for now.


	70. Welcome To Pandemonium

**Alice's Bedroom; Shinki's Castle**

"Oh, my dear Alice, you had me worried!" Shinki says as she tightly hugs Alice. "I'm glad you are alright!"

Alice visibly tries to break free, but the demon goddess' hug is too tight for the little puppeteer.

"But what about Yumeko?" Alice raises a question for her mother.

Shinki releases Alice from her embrace. "Don't worry about her. She'll be fine in about an hour or so."

"Aren't you worried about those two humans?" Alice raises another point. "They destroyed my best puppets, and even hurt Yumeko..."

"No need to worry!" Shinki reassures. "I already have the troops on standby~"

Alice slightly cocks her eyebrows in response to hearing that. "Makai doesn't have a proper military." The little puppeteer points out. "Did you mean magicians like Yuki and Mai?"

Shinki lets out a soft awkward laugh. "If you put it that way, yes..." The demon goddess shrugs. "But I'll see to it that those two bad girls are punished. So in the meantime, my dear Alice, please be a good girl and stay in your room~"

With that said, Shinki then walks out of the room, leaving Alice all by herself.

The little puppeteer picked up the her locked book, looking at its cover and running her fingers over the lock that wouldn't budge.

"Stupid book!" Furious about her puppets' demise at Reimu and Marisa's hands, Alice proceeds to throw the book straight down at the floor.

The book hit the floor with a loud thud - it is after all a thick hard-cover book - and for a brief moment, a click can be heard coming from it.

Alice blinked. "Huh?" That click sounded like a door being locked or unlocked. But the door to her bedroom doesn't have a lock, which means...

The little puppeteer knelt down to inspect the book, gave the cover a tug, and finds out that the lock has somehow been disengaged, as it slides off the cover with a metallic chink.

Curiosity got the better of her as she opens the book...

...

**Outskirts of Pandemonium**

Reimu and Marisa poked their heads out of the ravine, checking their surroundings for any hostiles.

"Okay, no fairies, no nothin'..." Marisa announces. "It's only us and that city now."

"Are you sure?" Reimu questions the authenticity of the witch's announcement. "They could be anywhere."

"That ain't something I can help with, so ya just gotta keep your eyes peeled." Marisa says as she flies out of the ravine toward the direction of the city.

Reimu follows right behind. "Why do you have to always fly off without me?" She wonders out loud for the witch to hear.

Marisa didn't answer. She just focuses on heading toward the city.

Reimu sighs as she continues following Marisa toward the city.

It is only then that the girls realized that in their attempt to hide from the swarm of Makai fairies earlier, they didn't notice that the ravine they fought Alice's puppets in actually ran close to the city's borders. It's still pretty far if the travelling is made on land, but that distance is nothing for flight-capable individuals like Reimu and Marisa.

As they get closer to the city, they could start seeing the details of the city's buildings.

The buildings all looks to have about four to eight floors, save for the massive castle right in the center of it all, and all of them appear to be western in design with not an oriental design in sight. The girls can also see a large banner that is written in some script that neither of them could read (they assumed the script to be Makaiese).

"Impressive that demons could come up with such fancy architecture." Reimu comments. "But it's pretty underwhelming compared to Gensokyian architecture. No offence to the architect."

"I'm surprised they even have a city with buildings and streets." Marisa remarks. "I'd have thought they lived in freakin' elaborate castles."

They then notice a crowd on the street directly facing them getting denser, with some appearing on the rooftops as well.

They also happened to notice that most of the crowd right now are facing them. The ones that aren't appear to be making a hasty retreat indoors. The remaining all appear to be wearing identical red and black outfits, with what looked like witch hats.

"Marisa...I don't think they're here to welcome us," Reimu says, as she notice the crowd raising their hands and pointing something - presumably small weapons - at her. "or let us negotiate..."

"After everything we did to get here?" Marisa answers the shrine maiden trainee. "I knew the rest of Makai ain't gonna be givin' us a warm welcome..." The witch then pulls out her magic wand. "And they sure look like they wanna kill us dead."

Their worries are confirmed when fireballs and boulder-sized danmaku are launched from the crowd at them.

Reimu and Marisa dodges the salvo, then shoots back at the crowd.

"See?" Marisa says. "They're greetin' us with fireballs. They ain't happy to see us."

"Then I guess we'll just have to fight our way through them..." Reimu says as she summons the Ying-Yang Orb.

...

**Main Street of Pandemonium**

_All that just to protect a tourism agency that's barely up and running?_

Louise wondered as she hovered over the main street of Pandemonium, seeing from her vantage point every mage in the city pooling out of their dwellings to go engage the two young ladies from Gensokyo.

She recalls running into a fellow Makaiese moments ago, who claims to be just doing her own thing (that being testing some magic spells in Gensokyo's human village), only to be attacked by the village's law enforcement personnel for "violent use of magic". Louise was then left to wonder why her fellow Makaiese who are touring Gensokyo had to act like they owned the surface world.

The demon tourist stopped when she hears a familiar voice greeting her.

"Ah, Louise! Weren't you having a tour of Gensokyo?"

Louise turned toward the source of the voice, seeing a blond-haired demon girl with a hat and dress of identical shades of black.

**Black Witch of Makai**

**Yuki**

"Oh, hello, Yuki..." Louise waves her hand at the girl as she lands on the street's cobblestone surface.

The blonde demon, Yuki, approached Louise. "So what are you doing back here?" She asked.

"Just heading home to grab some...things..." Louise answered. "I assume you've heard about two intruders from Gensokyo coming to attack Pandemonium?"

Yuki places her hand behind her head. "That? I was just getting into position..." She said. "And before you point it out for me, yes, I know the 'intruders' part is just Miss Yumeko exaggerating things." The blonde demon then glances over her shoulder. "Right, Mai?"

Standing directly behind Yuki is another demon girl with light-blue hair with a white bow, and wears a dress that is identical in design to Yuki's save for being white. She also has a pair of white feathery wings that made it hard for people unfamiliar with her to believe she is a demon.

**White Witch of Makai**

**Mai**

"Well, there are Makaiese acting like ruffians in Gensokyo, from what I heard from those coming back, so those two Gensokyians have a good reason to come attack us..." The white-clad demon, Mai, commented. "After all, we Makaiese would be similarly angry if it was Gensokyians acting like ruffians in Makai."

"'Fight fire with fire', they say." Yuki added. "Too bad poor Alice just happened to run straight into those two, and had to be rescued by Miss Yumeko..."

Mai then shrugs. "Even though this is all Lady Shinki's fault  _indirectly_ , protocols are protocols, and we as the witches of Makai are bound by our responsibility to protect the realm and its creator from all intruders."

As that is said, the sound of the other Makai witches firing off one attack after another can be heard from the distance.

Louise puts her hand to her chin. "Then I guess I should get going, and let you do your job..."

"Then we'll see you again later!" Yuki tells Louise, as she takes off into the air and flies toward the site of the attacks.

Mai didn't follow the blonde demon witch right away. "The fight  _will_ get rough," She tells Louise. "so please do yourself a favor, and stay home until this is all over." With that, the white-clad demon slowly took off into the air and heads toward the direction Yuki went to.

...

The odds were not in favor of Reimu or Marisa.

Both girls had expected that there would be magic-users in Makai ready to deal with them. What they didn't expect is that there would be an army of Makai witches laying in wait to attack them in the city. And unlike Mima's pupils, these Makai witches are much more skilled.

Dodging a barrage of fireballs thrown at her, Reimu returns fire at the Makai witches that hurled them, taking out a few as more keeps pouring in. "I didn't expect there to be so many!"

Even Marisa has trouble keeping up with the increasing number of Makai witches despite having Orreries Solar System active. "I didn't either-darnit!" She cursed when one of the multicolored orbs gets taken out by a fireball.

Reimu quickly launches out the Ying-Yang Orb to knock over a dozen Makai witches, then points at the castle in the center of the city. "Maybe the one in charge of everything in Makai is right over there!"

Marisa gets the shrine maiden trainee's message right away. "Right, I'm clearin' the way! Stay right behind me!"

Using the remaining three multicolored orbs to fire lasers and chains of danmaku, Marisa proceeds to carve a way through the army of Makai witches, as she and Reimu makes a beeline for the castle.

In the process of getting to the castle, two more of Marisa's multicolored orb gets taken out in the crossfire. Gritting her teeth, the witch positions the last multicolored orb in front of herself. "Bad news, Reimu. I don't think Orreries Solar System is gonna last any longer..." She tells Reimu.

The shrine maiden trainee notices the last multicolored orb, and recalls how she fought and defeated Marisa back at Reimaden. "Then we have to pick up speed and get to the castle before it goes out!"

And so the girls increased their speed. They stopped bothering with attacking the Makai witches, only focusing on getting to their destination and not getting shot or blown up.

...

**Mystic Square; center of Pandemonium**

A few minutes of non-stop high-speed flying later, Reimu and Marisa emerges from the main street of the city into a wide open area directly overlooked by the castle.

Of course, they still have an army of Makai witches following right behind them.

"Jeez, they sure are persistent..." Marisa remarks, not slowing down one bit as she continues flying toward the castle with Reimu right behind her.

"I would've rather fought your friends than these demon witches..." Reimu couldn't agree more this time around.

They could see the castle's front gate in sight. They were about to reach it when a massive fireball suddenly materialized directly in front of them without warning.

"What the?!" Reimu and Marisa both exclaimed at the same time. They were unable to stop in time, as the fireball promptly explodes in their face.

The explosion threw both girls off balance, landing on the cobblestone pavement with a thud.

They both quickly picked themselves up from the pavement, thankful that they are not injured in any way. Though they're both they need to do something about the singed part of their clothes and hair.

"Okay, I'm glad that nobody's hurt..." Marisa remarks. She then notices that she's lost one of her shoes. "But  _where is my godsdamn shoe?!_ "

Reimu immediately found the aforementioned shoe lying right by her feet...with half of it disintegrated by the fire and the other half left smoldering. "Over here. But I don't think you can fix it even with magic..." She said as she shows it to Marisa.

Marisa groaned.

The girls then notice that in the process of them recovering from the explosion, the Makai witches have caught up with them, and surrounded them from all sides.

Marisa scanned the surroundings, finding that the Makai witches have cut off all escape routes. "This is one terrible odd we have right here..." Marisa said.

"But we can't give up right now, not with our goal being so close..." Reimu said. "Marisa, how about another one of your stun potions?"

"They're too far away and there's too many of 'em. The effects won't be able to reach 'em all," Marisa answered. She stuffed her hand under her witch hat, and pulls out a stun potion - the only one she has left. "and I've got only one left with me."

"So you're the ones who destroyed Alice's puppets." A voice suddenly said.

Reimu and Marisa looked around for the source of the voice.

"I'm over here." The voice said again.

Reimu and Marisa turned toward the direction they came from, seeing a black-clad blonde demon girl hovering just a few feet above the pavement. Hovering right next to her is a white-clad, blue-haired girl with feathery wings.

"So, what will it be, humans?" The blonde demon girl said in an intimidating manner.

* * *

You're gonna need new odds, Marisa, because these odds are terrible.

Yep, Reimu and Marisa have just fought Makai's citizens, and will be fighting Yuki and Mai in the next chapter. How are they going to win this?

On a side note, I've decided to add a city square to the city of Pandemonium for a bit of a city-esque flavor. It's called the Mystic Square, a reference to the current story arc being the  _Mystic Square_ arc.

That said, we only have a few chapters left before finally concluding  _Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream_ as a whole. For now, Reimu and Marisa still have to deal with Yumeko, Ex-Alice and Shinki after they deal with Yuki and Mai.

Wait, Ex-Alice? Well, Alice is fought as the extra stage boss of  _Mystic Square_ , so this shouldn't have been a surprise if you're familiar with the game (whether by playing it, watching playthroughs of it, or just reading the Touhou Wiki).

"And that, as they said, is that."

_Afterword ends here..._

 


	71. Fire and Ice

**Mystic Square; Pandemonium**

"So, what will it be, human?" Yuki, with her arms folded over her chest, said in a menacing manner to Reimu and Marisa as she descended toward the ground, her feet just barely reaching the cobblestone pavement where she hovered.

Reimu and Marisa both got in a defensive stance, but seems to be hesitant to act. If Yuki was planning to intimidate them, it seems to be working.

"You have two choices here..." The blonde demon offered the two girls from Gensokyo. "One, you turn around and go back to where you came from; or two, try to fight me and my friends here, and suffer a humiliating defeat." She made an evil-sounding snicker. "Oh, I can only imagine what stupid decision you puny humans and your puny brains will make here~?"

Yuki never got her answer, as something cold and solid suddenly impacted the back of her head.

"There is no need for degenerative slurs..." Mai told Yuki as she dispels the icicle she used as a club. "We're not the undignified ruffians that made them come here in the first place..."

The blonde demon held the back of her head to ease the throbbing pain. "Oh, come on, Mai! You've just ruined my plan to intimidate them!" She complained.

Mai lands right next to Yuki. "Even then, there is no need for rude languages..." She added.

"But still!" Yuki talked back, and soon it became a case of the blonde demon yelling at her blue-haired partner who always gave nonchalant answers.

As Yuki began to argue with Mai, Reimu and Marisa are left where they are, wondering if their potential opponent have forgotten about them.

"That blonde one is just like you." Reimu whispered to Marisa.

"And Blue Hair's just like ya." Marisa whispered back.

Yuki and Mai's argument lasted for a while. By the time they're done, Reimu and Marisa are struggling to not look  _bored_ , as are many of the Makai witches surrounding the Square.

"Well, in that case!" Yuki ends the argument. "Maybe we should stop  _boring_ the intruders, and get on with what we were going to do!"

As that is said, she accidentally hurled out a fireball that missed Reimu and Marisa by a huge margin, and went toward and (non-fatally) blew up a hapless Makai witch. The blonde demon looked at her outstretched hand, then at her unintended victim (who everyone else present are staring at), her mouth hanging open.

"What did I just tell you about friendly fire and your impetuousness?" Mai said with her arms folded over her chest.

"Ugh, point taken..." Yuki acknowledged. She turned toward Reimu and Marisa. "As for you two..."

The blonde demon must've taken too much time dealing with her partner and led to Marisa becoming very impatient. Because the witch decided to start shooting right away without waiting for anything else.

Caught by surprise, both Yuki and Mai took several hits from the danmaku barrage. Though they appear to be more resistant to danmaku, as they aren't downed despite taking a dozen hits.

"At least don't ignore us, ya jackass!" Marisa said as she continues firing danmaku.

 _Maybe our relationship really are similar to theirs..._ Reimu thought. Just as she is about to join Marisa in firing danmaku at Yuki and Mai, she notices that the Makai witches surrounding the Square have begun hurling fireballs at her position again.

"Marisa, we need to do something about all of them!" The shrine maiden trainee called out to her friend.

Marisa, remembering the last remaining multicolored orb from her Orreries Solar System spell, raised it and began to pool magic energy into it. "Get down, Reimu, cause it's gonna be one heck of an overclock..."

The multicolored orb, after a few seconds of collecting magic energy, stopped being multicolored as it takes on a bright yellow glow.

Reimu doesn't want to be caught in whatever attack Marisa is about to unleash, so she laid herself flat on the cobblestone pavement, hoping that the attack would work before the incoming fireballs hit.

Marisa's mouth formed a wide grin as she finishes gathering magic energy into the orb. "I wonder, is there a hell beyond Makai? Whatever...MASTER SPARK!"

As the witch declared her spell, the same massive laser that obliterated Elly back at Yuuka's mansion rang out from the orb. Marisa then swings it in a circle, blasting every building and Makai witches that are unfortunate enough to be in the way.

As soon as Marisa finishes spinning one round, the multicolored orb immediately shattered on its own accord due to being overclocked, putting Orrerries Solar System to an end. Reimu stood up from the ground, seeing the carnage inflicted upon Pandemonium and its citizens by Marisa.

"I guess it was a little bit too strong..." Marisa said.

"Mima was a bad influence to you  _at best_..." Reimu told the witch.

"Is it bad if it get'cha out of a sticky situation?" Marisa countered.

Both girls then notices the wall of ice that had formed at where Yuki and Mai were earlier. The wall of ice appear to have acted as a shield against Master Spark for the two demons, which then crumbled into a pile of tiny chunks of ice.

Right behind where that wall of ice had been are Mai, with both hands outstretched, and Yuki, shielding her face with her arms.

"You are no ordinary magician..." Mai said as she put her hands down.

"Just the reason why we need to take you out!" Yuki said. Then with a hand extended out, she blasted a jet of purple flame at Reimu and Marisa's direction.

Reimu and Marisa dodged the purple flame by taking off into the air. As she briefly looked back down, she noticed something about the purple flame that had her gulping hard.

"Watch out!" Marisa warned Reimu. "That's Darkfire! It can't be put out until whatever it's burnin' is reduced to ash!"

Reimu simply nodded. She has seen many kind of attacks she knew should be avoided under any circumstances in her past Incidents, and guessed this "Darkfire" is no exception.

Yuki gets ready for another blast of Darkfire. "Humans! Prepare to burn in the most intense fires of Makai!" She loudly declared with such intensity that she might as well be chewing off whatever pieces of scenery that survived Marisa's Master Spark sweep.

"I told you there's no need for degenerative slurs..." Mai broke the intense moment by reminding her blonde partner in a casual tone. "Doesn't mean I won't do my duties, though..." The blue-haired demon then showed her intention of helping her partner by conjuring a large number of icicles, ready to be used as projectiles.

In response, Marisa held out her magic wand, pointing it at the direction of Yuki and Mai. "Two versus two? I like the odds!"

Reimu summoned the Ying-Yang Orb and grabbed hold of some Ofuda, ready to launch them at a moment's notice. "I  _don't_ -"

If the shrine maiden trainee was trying to argue, she was interrupted mid-sentence as Mai launched all of her icicles out.

Reimu and Marisa dodged the shower of icicles as best as they could. Then they fired back, with Reimu throwing out a barrage of Ofuda at Yuki and Mai.

Yuki took out the Ofuda barrage by blasting them with Darkfire, while Mai conjured another wall of ice to block the danmaku that follows.

Reimu then launches the Ying-Yang Orb toward Mai in an attempt to break the ice wall. To the shrine maiden trainee's surprise, the Orb bounced right off the ice wall, only managing to chip off a tiny piece of it. Seeing this had convinced Marisa that whatever attack she is going to unleash might not work either, as she briefly lowered her magic wand.

Mai then dispelled the ice wall briefly to give Yuki an opening to blast another jet of Darkfire at Reimu and Marisa.

The two girls backed off to avoid being burned by the Darkfire. But Marisa's flying broomstick took a hit, and its tip is now burning with Darkfire. As Darkfire cannot be extinguished, the witch deals with it by using a spell to slice off the burning tip before the Darkfire can start spreading.

Mai followed up the attack by conjuring and launching another shower of icicles. This one denser than the previous.

Reimu and Marisa managed to weave through the shower of icicles, though they had to deflect some of the icicles with their weapons.

Reimu made a second attempt at trying to hit Mai with the Ying-Yang Orb, but was stopped by Marisa just as the blue-haired demon conjured another ice wall.

"It ain't gonna work," The witch said. "that ice's too godsdamn tough."

Yuki suddenly appeared from behind the ice wall, and blasted another jet of Darkfire.

The girls quickly dodged the blast. Reimu's gohei was caught in the blast, but somehow didn't catch fire.

"These two can cover each others' butts. We gotta split 'em up!" Marisa then told Reimu.

The shrine maiden trainee glanced at Yuki and Mai's direction, noting how the two demons can cover each other and fend off basically any attack that could be thrown at them. She then turned back toward Marisa and nodded.

At that moment, Mai had dispelled her ice wall again, replacing it with yet another shower of icicles which are then launched out.

Instead of trying to weave through the shower this time, Reimu and Marisa shot off in opposite directions quickly enough that they're basically outside the area where the shower of icicles would've hit.

Yuki saw right away what Reimu and Marisa have planned. "They're trying to flank us from two direc-"

The blonde demon is interrupted by being hit by Marisa's danmaku. Mai tried to shield her partner by putting up her ice wall in the witch's direction, but was forced to put it up in the opposite direction to block Reimu's Ying-Yang Orb.

"Yuki, I can only cover one direction at a time..." Mai said.

"I know!" Yuki replied. She tried to wipe out Marisa's danmaku by blasting them with Darkfire, but some of the shots were still getting through and had hit her. " If we stay where we are, we're sitting ducks!"

Mai is also struggling to fend off Reimu's Ying-Yang Orb. The ice wall is still solid, but the shrine maiden trainee appeared to have changed tactics, striking the ice wall at a very steep angle in an attempt to knock it away - it was a lot lighter than ordinary ice of the same size.

Then with one high-powered strike to the side, the ice wall is knocked out of Mai's control, sending it flying away where it disintegrated on its own before even touching the ground. The Ying-Yang Orb then doubled back, aiming directly for the blue-haired demon's face.

Mai tried to quickly conjure another ice wall to shield herself. But she wasn't quick enough, the new ice wall was barely the thickness of a piece of paper when the Ying-Yang Orb smashed through it, hitting her right in her face.

Realizing that a Ying-Yang Orb to the face probably isn't enough this time, Reimu then fired a dozen more danmaku into Mai, some headshots included, for good measure.

The blue-haired demon seemed to stagger in midair for a bit before she went out and tumbled onto the cobblestone pavement of the Square.

"Mai!" Yuki called out. She found herself now facing two opponents on her own.

Marisa continued to pelt the blonde demon with danmaku, which is further reinforced by Reimu firing from another direction.

Yuki gritted her teeth as she endured being hit with danmaku from two directions. "Argh! Just burn, you pests!" With both hands extended toward Reimu, she then fired an extra large blast of Darkfire at the shrine maiden trainee.

Seeing the extra large blast of Darkfire rapidly approaching her, Reimu instinctively moved sideways to dodge it. However, she failed to dodge it completely, as her left sleeve is now burning with Darkfire. The shrine maiden trainee tried to snuff out her burning sleeve to no avail, for Darkfire cannot be extinguished until whatever it is burning is reduced to ash.

Marisa noticed Reimu's dire situation. "Reimu!" She cried out as she attempted to fly over and help the shrine maiden trainee.

But then Yuki turned her attention on the witch, and fired off a similarly extra large blast of Darkfire at her.

Marisa tried to dodge the Darkfire by flying up at a sharp angle. But she too failed to dodge the blast completely, and now the bristles of her flying broomstick is burning.

The witch remembers very clearly what will happen if the bristles of a flying broomstick is on fire. Deciding not to relieve her experience with the jealous witches at Yuuka's mansion, Marisa pointed her magic wand at the bristles, and with a loud "SLICE!", cut the burning part of the bristles off, avoiding a second mid-flight flying broomstick breakdown.

With that dealt with, Marisa then shot off toward Yuki with the intent to finish the fight once and for all.

Yuki immediately fired another extra large blast of Darkfire at the approaching witch.

Instead of trying to dodge it, Marisa charged full-speed toward the blast of Darkfire. She aimed her magic wand forward. "Alright, bitch, time to feel the burn. COLDFIRE!"

An equally large blast of Coldfire erupted from the tip of the magic wand, intercepting the blast of Darkfire - it was generated by Yuki's magic and thus vulnerable to Coldfire - and locking it in a stalemate.

Yuki channeled more of her magic powers into her Darkfire blast in an attempt to push back the Coldfire blast. However, she has already reach her limit, and any more will overclock her body and cause permanent damage. The blonde demon had run out of options as she watched Marisa's Coldfire blast getting closer and closer to her with each passing seconds, until...

...

Funny how a demon who specializes in fire magic isn't any less resistant to the element than a Mundane human, despite being able to tank a lot of danmaku.

Yuki, who is still burning with tiny bits of Coldfire, laid unconscious on the cobblestone pavement right next to Mai. Both demons have been tied up with magical rope (that Marisa carried with her for some reason) for good measure.

"Now I know what the phrase 'to Makai with it' meant..." Marisa mused as she repaired her flying broomstick with a wave of her magic wand, which was cracked from being overtaxed by the extra large Coldfire blast that defeated Yuki. The witch hoped that the cracks wouldn't prove to be detrimental in the near future.

"Me too..." Reimu said. The shrine maiden trainee had tore her left sleeve out to prevent the Darkfire from spreading all over her clothes, leaving her left arm completely exposed from fingertip to shoulder. "I thought Youkai are powerful. But they were small fries compared to demons..." She then looked around, noting what had happened to the city. "Also, I'm sure that someone has a very good reason for wanting to kill us now..."

Marisa snapped her fingers. "Then we gotta make sure we knock 'em down before they kill us!" She then points at the castle overlooking the city. "And I bet that's where whoever that sucker is!"

At the moment, Yuki and Mai have begun to stir. Both of them immediately took notice of the ropes binding them.

"Those damned humans...!" Yuki complained as she struggled to break free. "How dare they step all over our land with their dirty monkey feet-"

Despite being restrained, Mai could still move her legs enough to kick Yuki in her right knee. "I told you there is no need for degenerative slurs..."

...

**Shinki's Castle**

Shinki didn't see how Yuki and Mai's fight against Reimu and Marisa had went on...

But the demon goddess did see clearly that the witch from Gensokyo had reduced much of Pandemonium into rubble by herself.

Shinki was not very angry. In fact, she found it amusing in a bad way how creation is something that take lots of time and effort to accomplish, while destruction can occur in an instant.

Despite that, she still felt like wanting to make someone pay for destroying her masterpiece.

"Yumeko, dear..."

The demon maid immediately arrived, or rather, materialized behind her master upon being called. The broken hand that was caused by Marisa's explosion spell has fully healed.

"Yes, Mistress Shinki?" Yumeko asked her master for orders.

Shinki remained silent for a few seconds before she spoke, "My dear..."

Yumeko put extra attention. This is the first time in decades she ever heard the demon goddess speaking with any traces of venom in her tone.

"Those two little girls from Gensokyo..." Shinki said, the minute amount of venom in her tone contrasted her usual carefree speaking tone.

The budding tourist agency, the Makaiese acting like ruffians in Gensokyo, Mima's attempt at negotiation that never came about...none of it matters anymore. For her, the ruling demon goddess, creator of all of Makai, and a caring mother worried of her daughter's sake, this is now  _personal_.

"Kill them." Shinki finished giving her order.

Yumeko was surprised, for her often absent-minded master finally gave a very direct order, one that she herself just happened to be looking forward to.

"With pleasure, my Mistress..." The demon maid answered with sadistic glee.

* * *

This is an unusually long chapter, isn't it?

Believe it or not, it was supposed to be longer, with the fight against Yuki and Mai eventually becoming an intense Reimu Vs Mai and Marisa Vs Yuki. Then I realized that the chapter is already too long, and decided to cut the fight short, which resulted in Mai's defeat looking a bit anticlimatic, and Yuki's "angry mode" looking a bit rushed.

And so, next up, Reimu and Marisa will be fighting Yumeko. I've also decided that this story has seen enough mook fights through its run already, so there will be no more mook fights, and the next three chapters will just be boss battles before we reach the conclusion of _Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream_ as a whole.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterword ends here._

 


	72. Doll of Misery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This version of Yumeko CAN be scary for some people. So reader's discretion is advised.

**Entrance Hall, Shinki's Castle**

"Marisa, maybe you should, for once, try the door, not the  _windows_..."

Reimu said after watching Marisa entering the castle through one of the ornate windows (actually just a fancy frame with no panes) and following her in through the same way.

"Miss Mima told me to go through the windows when enterin' an unfamiliar building." Marisa answered.

Reimu crossed her arms over her chest in response. "Did Mima tell your friends the same thing?"

Marisa shrugged. "Maybe?"

Reimu sighed. "I'll never understand your delinquent logic..."

The two girls then looked around. They find themselves to be in a lavish (if a bit dim in color) hall overlooked by an equally lavish (and dim in color) stairway that splits to the left and right at halfway point. There are torches dotted all over the walls that did little to light the place up, and presumably existed just to make the hall look exquisite to the castle's visitors, staffs and tenants alike.

Oddly enough, there doesn't appear to be any servants or guards anywhere in the castle.

"For someone who rules over an entire realm, her home sure looks understaffed..." Marisa remarked as she scanned the hall.

Reimu looked around. The quietness caused the shrine maiden trainee to feel uneasy.

"I don't know..." Reimu said. "Even the path to Reimaden isn't this eerie..."

"At least this place looked like someone currently lives in it." Marisa said, as she snapped her fingers in a reassuring way. "Trust me, Miss Mima took me and my friends to places that aren't even lit. This is nothing in comparison to tho-"

All of a sudden, what appeared to be a wisp passed by Marisa, and then she simply disappeared into thin air, flying broomstick and all, right before Reimu's eyes, literally.

Reimu gasped. Her senses are going haywire as she tried to process what had just happened. It didn't help that Makai's naturally large amount of magical miasma clogged up her magic-sensing ability.

"Marisa?" The shrine maiden trainee called out, hoping to get a response.

There was no response, only an echo of her own words in the empty hall.

"Marisa, where are you?" Reimu called out again.

Still no response. This sent a chill running down the entire length of her body.

Reimu instinctively raised her gohei, as she looked around for any potential foes that are waiting to attack her.

She blinked for just a split second, and then felt an ice-cold pair of hands suddenly clamping down on her neck...

...

**The Chamber of Sufferings; Shinki's Castle**

The next thing Reimu knew, she was inside a cage in the middle of a large chamber filled with various torture devices - some looked like they were covered in blood...

Standing outside the cage, right in front of Reimu, is the Intangible Demon Maid - Yumeko, with her fingers wrapped tightly around the shrine maiden trainee's neck.

Reimu would've gasped and instinctively attacked Yumeko. But the demon maid's ice-cold hands gripped her throat tightly to the point that she had trouble breathing. Reimu struggled to pry Yumeko's fingers off, with no success.

Seconds before Reimu would've passed out from asphyxiation, Yumeko released her grip, causing the shrine maiden trainee to collapse on her knees.

As Reimu gasped for air, she noticed, from the corner of her eyes, that Marisa is in an identical cage next to hers, also on her knees and gasping for air. The witch looked like she was trying to say something, but no sound came out of her mouth aside from her deep breaths.

"I warned you twice, humans..." Yumeko told the girls, as she pulls out of thin air a pair of swords that are each longer than she is tall. "But you chose to dig your graves deeper instead..." She pointed the swords at Reimu and Marisa, the sharp edges practically touching their necks. "And then you hurt the Young Mistress, and razed more than half of Pandemonium. For that, Mistress Shinki gave me permission to kill you both, and I  _look forward to it_..." She said the last part with a tone that all but screamed sadistic glee.

Reimu, still gasping for air, had another chill run down the entire length of her body upon hearing the threat.

Marisa, however, doesn't seem all that intimidated. "Oh, so this city's...called  _Panda-_ monium...eh?" The witch managed to crack a joke, intentional mispronouncing of the city's name and all, despite still gasping for air and having the edge of a large sword resting on her neck.

Reimu would've rolled her eyes if she wasn't gasping for air.  _This is a life-or-death moment, and she still has the mood to joke?!_  She thought.

Yumeko was not amused by the gallows humor. "You are moments away from death, and yet you jest..."

Marisa coughed once as she stopped gasping for air, having just recovered from her near-asphyxiation. "Ha. Proud of my  _gaijin_  heritage, whatever Reimu meant by that."

Reimu did roll her eyes at that one.

Yumeko still wasn't amused. She then withdrew the large swords and dispelled them.

Reimu and Marisa both put their hands over their neck and wondered why the murderous demon maid standing before them didn't do anything harmful to them...

Then comes the excruciating pain.

The pain originated from the nearly-nonexistent cut made on their necks, which spread over their entire body almost instantly the second it began. It felt like a combination of being corroded by acid, burned by an intense blaze, pricked by a thousand needles, and shocked by a massive surge of electricity all at once, and it caused both girls to collapse on the floor of their cage, screaming intensely.

Yumeko just stood there, one arm resting above the other, as she watched Reimu and Marisa endure the pain. "This is the Eternal Suffering Curse. A curse unique to Makai." She told the girls. "All the people who got it - humans, Youkai, and demons - they all gave up and asked for a mercy kill eventually." The demon maid's lips formed a sadistic smile, an indication that she is enjoying watching the girls' suffer. "How long they endure it differed with each individual, but they all chose death over suffering it for an eternity..."

Reimu tried to lessen the pain by pressing a hand on the source on her neck, but it did nothing.

"Some tried to fight it..." Yumeko added. "But like I said, they chose death eventually..."

Reimu gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to continue screaming. Marisa seem to be doing the same.

The shrine maiden trainee then noticed the witch struggling to reach under her hat, which she then flings with as much might as she can muster out of her cage at Yumeko.

Yumeko easily caught the witch hat with one hand. "Why do you still resist? I am awaiting your plea for a mercy kill..." She basically taunted.

Something small fell out of the bottom of the hat, and landed on the floor with a chink. The demon maid turned her attention on it.

Reimu took a glance at the object, and immediately recognized it.

A stunning potion. The same kind used to take out the swarm of Makai fairies back outside the city.

Marisa had quickly covered her ears and looked away from the stunning potion the moment she heard it hit the ground. Reimu quickly did the same.

The stunning potion went off before Yumeko can react, assaulting the demon maid with a blinding flash and ear-piercing noise that caused her to reel back.

As soon as the effect of the stun potion subsided, Marisa pulled out her magic wand and, still suffering the Eternal Suffering Curse, pointed it at Yumeko before chanting, "FREEZE!"

A jet of cold air blasted out of the wand toward the still stunned Yumeko, freezing her solid and immobilizing her.

The surprise attack worked and Yumeko is neutralized for now. But the Eternal Suffering Curse is still in effect.

 _This better work..._  Reimu thought as she struggled to pull out an Ofuda, and slapped it over where Yumeko's large sword made the nearly-nonexistent cut.

The shrine maiden trainee was gambling when she tried that, and astonishingly, it worked. The effect of the Eternal Suffering Curse halted, and the excruciating pain ceased.

Reimu was glad that it worked. Noticing that Marisa is still suffering the Curse, she quickly moved closer to the witch's cage. "Marisa, take this and cover the cut on your neck with it!" She called out as she extended a hand holding another Ofuda as far out as she can.

Marisa noticed Reimu's effort to help. She tried to pull the Ofuda over with magic, but it doesn't seem to work. So she, struggling, physically extended one of her hands to grab for it. The excruciating pain made it hard for her to focus or stay up, the tip of her fingers kept slipping past the Ofuda Reimu extended to her. If only it was a tiny little bit closer...

Seeing that Marisa is unable to reach the Ofuda, Reimu elected to put it on the floor, and use her gohei to push and drag it closer to the witch.

The small extra distance provided by the gohei is more than enough. Marisa is able to grab the Ofuda. Then, struggling to move her arms, the witch slapped the Ofuda on the nearly-nonexistent cut on her neck. As soon as she does that, the effect of the Eternal Suffering Curse went away immediately.

With the excruciating pain subsiding, Marisa took a series of deep breaths as she slowly sat down in her cage.

"How...how didja know it...it'd work?" Marisa asked Reimu.

Reimu also took several deep breaths before she answered, "I...I didn't. I never ex...expected it to work..."

Marisa sat still in her cage for a few more seconds before she raised her magic wand up. "Ah, we can always find it out later..."

"Right. First we need to get out of here..." Reimu said.

The girls inspected their cage to look for a lock they could break apart. However, there weren't any, the cages are literally just metal bars sandwiched between two slabs of metal. Figures, a demon maid who can teleport other people around probably wouldn't need to open or close any cages, or even doors for that matters.

Marisa tried slicing the bars of her cage with a spell. But the bars remained sturdy and intact. "Okay, that ain't working..." The witch shrugged. "Time to try something else..." She raised her magic wand again, this time casting a different spell to freeze the bars solid. Marisa then gave one of the bars a kick, the frozen metal loosened but not completely dislodged. "Alright, gimme a sec..." She kicked the frozen metal bars more and more, until they dislodged, allowing her to walk out of it.

"Good work, Marisa!" Reimu said as she watched from her cage. "Now could you please help me get out as well?"

"No problem!" Marisa replied, before raising her magic wand to cast another freezing spell on Reimu's cage. "Okay, then. Now you might wanna hit it real-"

Reimu didn't even wait for Marisa to finish, as she delivered a mighty kick to one of the frozen metal bars, dislodging it and sending it flying across the chamber.

Marisa flinched. "Whoa." The witch mouthed in surprise. "I guess your kicks ain't just for that ball..."

Of course, the frozen metal bar is still a metal bar, and kicking it that hard gave Reimu a case of sore toes which she spent the next few seconds complaining about.

It's only after the complaints ended did the girls realize that Yumeko has disappeared. There is only a small patch of ice particle at where she was frozen solid.

"I've got a  _really_  bad feelin' bout this..." Marisa shuddered, as she grabbed her flying broomstick and raised her magic wand.

"So do I..." Reimu also shuddered, as she raised her gohei instinctively.

The girls looked around the chamber for any signs of Yumeko. The thought of the demon maid being able to teleport and become intangible made them extra attentive of their surroundings. The eerie silence in the chamber, with their own breaths being the only sounds in it, made the girls shiver, which isn't helped by the presence of all the torture devices, some of which appear to be soaked in blood...

That was when several dozen large swords started raining down from above. The gap between each of the large swords are too small to squeeze through.

Marisa quickly raised her magic wand and pointed it straight up. "DEFLECT!" She cast a spell that produced a shock wave, deflecting much of the swords directly above her to the sides and creating an open space large enough to be stood in.

Reimu quickly made her way to the open space before the swords hit the floor and embedded almost the entire length of their blades into it. Almost all of the torture devices in the chamber were wrecked in the process.

Before the girls can catch a breath, Yumeko suddenly appeared right in front of them - literally right out of thin air, dual-wielding the same large swords from before as she swings them both at Reimu.

Reimu raised her gohei to block the incoming blades. It was no competition: although the gohei shrugged off the blades and saved the shrine maiden trainee from getting bisected, it could not stop her from getting knocked aside by the massive size of the swords and the immense strength of the arms swinging them, sending her flying uncontrollably and crashing into a wall with enough force to smash a human-sized indent in it.

Marisa then turned and aimed her magic wand at Yumeko and fired a burst of danmaku. The demon maid didn't need to dodge, deflect or even shrug off the danmaku, she simply allowed them to go right through her intangible body harmlessly. Then at a speed too fast to be perceived, Yumeko dispelled one of her large swords, and grabbed Marisa by her forehead.

What happened next is that Marisa suddenly couldn't feel the air touching her skin anymore, as she became as intangible as Yumeko. The next thing she knew, she started to sink into the floor until only her head and neck remained above it, at which point Yumeko let go of her.

The witch is trapped.

"This  _sucks_!" Marisa complained. She tried to wiggle out, but couldn't even feel her body, much less try to move anything. "Wait, just how does this work, anyway?" She then wondered out loud.

Yumeko then turned her attention on Reimu, who has just picked herself up from the indent in the wall.

Reimu kicked off from the wall, flying toward Yumeko and firing danmaku at her in the meantime.

Again, Yumeko simply allowed the danmaku to go right through her. She waited for Reimu to get close to her before she grabbed the shrine maiden trainee by her gohei-holding right hand, causing her to jerk to a complete stop against her will. Yumeko then teleported to the ceiling of the chamber, taking Reimu with her.

Before Reimu can process what had just happened, she felt her whole body becoming intangible before Yumeko shoved her right hand into the ceiling - literally. Once Yumeko released her grip, Reimu felt herself become tangible again, but dangling by her right arm which was embedded, gohei and all, into the ceiling.

The shrine maiden trainee is also trapped.

Reimu tried to break free, but her right arm just wouldn't budge.

"Admit it..." Yumeko taunted as she hovered in front of Reimu. "You cannot defeat me. My domain is space itself."

Reimu tried to act defiantly by kicking Yumeko. But her legs went right through the demon maid's intangible body harmlessly.

"Why resist, only to suffer more?" Yumeko said as she pushed Reimu's head aside, exposing more of the shrine maiden trainee's neck.

Reimu froze as her eyes went wide in terror. She knows Yumeko is looking at the Ofuda on her neck, the same one that is suppressing the Eternal Suffering Curse.

The demon maid's lips formed a sadistic smirk as she eyed the Ofuda. "A long time ago, eight men came to Makai with the skills, tools and intents to exterminate its citizens. I killed them all..." She said. "But two of them managed to put up a good fight against me," She then slowly extended a hand toward the Ofuda. "just like you and your friend today..."

Reimu began to hyperventilate, as the thought of having to suffer the Eternal Suffering Curse again scared her much more than her fear of bats did. "No, please...I beg you..." She plead for mercy, which was obviously ignored by the sadist who is about to pluck off the Ofuda on her neck.

Marisa had noticed Reimu's predicament too. For the shrine maiden trainee to hyperventilate and beg for mercy is  _very_  out-of-character and thus very serious. "Hang on, Reimu! I'm coming!" She called out...only to immediately realize she is still stuck with much of her body below the floor. "But first, I'm gonna have to get myself outta some deep sh-" She then complained.

Meanwhile, Reimu extended her left hand in an attempt to stop Yumeko's hand from reaching the Ofuda on her neck, only to find out that Yumeko can make only part of her body intangible. Terror flooded the shrine maiden trainee as she watched Yumeko's ice-cold hand reach the Ofuda...

...Only to immediately pull back her hand, as though something had hurt her fingers upon touching the Ofuda. She screamed in pain as well.

Yumeko did not understand what was going on. She reached for the Ofuda again, this time with super speed, making another attempt to tear it off. Again, the demon maid pulled back her hand upon touching it, once again screaming in pain.

Reimu blinked in confusion. At first, she has no idea why the Ofuda on her neck reacted violently to Yumeko's touch...

Then she realized.

In the past months, she had been using her Ofuda supplies as bombs and explosives instead of what they were intended to be: tools for exorcising supernatural creatures such as Youkai and demons. The last time she used an Ofuda for its intended purpose, it was to deal the knockout blow to Shingyoku, several months ago. And that was the  _first_  Ofuda she ever used.

And the violent reaction of the Ofuda on her neck to Yumeko is almost exactly the same as the violent reaction of the one used to defeat the Ancient Formless Guardian back then.

It seems that Yumeko eventually connected the dots as well. The demon maid had decided to eschew having Reimu suffer the Eternal Suffering Curse, and conjured one of her large swords again in an attempt to simply stab the shrine maiden trainee.

With her right arm currently embedded in the ceiling, there was no way Reimu could block or dodge the incoming blade. So without further thinking, she quickly grabbed a spare Ofuda with her left hand, and threw it as hard as she possibly can at Yumeko.

Unexpectedly, the Ofuda actually attached itself to Yumeko's face despite her being intangible at the time. The demon maid's attack came to a complete halt as the power of the Ofuda that made the one on Reimu's neck violently reject her became continuous, causing her to be paralyzed.

Then Reimu took the chance to deliver a kick to Yumeko's face for good measure, sending the demon maid falling uncontrollably toward the floor.

With Yumeko temporarily dealt with for now, the shrine maiden trainee then summoned the Ying-Yang Orb, and used it as a hammer to smash at the ceiling to free her right hand. After several smashes, that part of the ceiling crumbled, freeing her right hand and the gohei it is holding.

"I can't believe that worked!" Reimu remarked as she shook her right hand, which is a bit sore from being embedded in the solid cobblestone ceiling. "If only I did the same thing in all those fights in the past months..."

"Uh, Reimu?" Marisa, still embedded in the floor from the neck down, called out to the shrine maiden trainee. "I'm glad that you're fine. But mind giving me a hand?"

"Oh, right." Reimu responded as she descended to the witch's position and landed next to her. "You...could be a bit tricky to get out..."

If Marisa could raise a hand, she would've done so. "Tricky my butt! This ain't nothing compared to that time when Ako accidentally flooded Miss Mima's place with slime!" She complained. "That said, I don't wanna be just a head here, takin' it easy."

"I'll try..." Reimu said. She brought forth the Ying-Yang Orb, once again using it as a hammer to smash the floor in order to break Marisa out.

Reimu hasn't even dented the surface of the floor when she noticed Yumeko standing up from behind a guillotine, pulling a large sword out of the floor and then scraping the Ofuda off of her face with it.

With the offending Ofuda removed, Yumeko turned her attention on Reimu, looking at her with a furious stare that all but screamed her intent to kill the shrine maiden trainee.

Reimu prepared several Ofuda in her hands, and are bout to throw them out but was stopped by Yumeko teleporting over and shoving her with the force of a battering ram, sending her flying into yet another wall.

"Reimu!" Marisa screamed.

Yumeko then teleported over to Reimu, and planted a foot on her chest That was when Reimu felt herself becoming intangible again, as her whole body began to sink into the wall. Reimu turned her head slightly to the left, and saw what is definitely a human skeleton with its head fully embedded into the cobblestone wall. Whatever happened to this poor sod is about to happen to  _her_.

"Perhaps you can join some of my past victims  _inside_  this wall!" Yumeko said with a definitely sadistic tone.

Reimu tried to push back against Yumeko, but the demon maid's raw strength is too immense for her.

If she wants to throw an attack at Yumeko, it has to be a knockout blow, and it has to be  _now_.

"Sorry, but this wall has no room left in it for another person!"

And so, Reimu raised both her hands, and threw all of the Ofuda she is holding at Yumeko.

Yumeko reeled back when the first Ofuda hit her, and again and again for each one that follows. The six Ofuda threw her onto the floor where she laid with paralysis, unable to do anything as the offending objects attached to her did their work. The six Ofuda began to glow brighter and brighter over time until they all went off in an explosion of light.

Once the light cleared out, all that is left is of Yumeko lying there on the floor, completely still.

With the demon maid, the deputy of the demon goddess of Makai and the  _de facto_  governor of the realm, defeated, Reimu drew a deep breath in relief.

"Wow!" Marisa exclaimed at the sight. "I'd love to clap my hands, but I can't move 'em right now..."

"You know what, Marisa?" Reimu, her back still embedded into the wall, remarked. "This woman is probably the scariest foe we've ever faced..."

"Summon big freakin' swords out of thin air? Check. Can teleport? Check. Become intangible? Check." Marisa responded. "Doing the last two while grabbing on to other people? If that ain't a check, then I don't know what else is."

"And another check for her clearly enjoying watching us suffer..." Reimu added. She tried to get up, but her body wouldn't budge due to being half-embedded into the wall. "I still don't understand how the intangibility thing works..."

"Me neither." Marisa said. She tried to look around as much as she could. "Say, mind gettin' back to breakin' me out?"

Reimu summoned the Ying-Yang Orb over, and tried to raise her arms before discovering she has trouble moving her shoulders due to being half-embedded into the wall. "I'd like to, but it's going to take me a while to break myself out first..."

Marisa made a face that spelled her becoming impatient. "Alright, that's it! You're not gonna like it, but I'm takin' a page from Markle!"

Reimu's eyes went wide. "Wait, what are you going to-"

"EXPLODE!"

That was all Reimu heard from Marisa before the entire chamber is engulfed in a large explosion...

* * *

Oh wow, this was a pretty long chapter. Over 4200 words not counting the Afterwords.

Summon giant swords from thin air? Becoming intangible? Teleports? Doing the last two to anyone and anything she is grabbing on to? Has a room full of torture devices all to herself? All that plus the implication of her being a sadist? This Yumeko pretty much fits the bill of a slasher movie villain, one that would make even Freddy Krueger poop his pants...

But let's be honest: I made this version of Yumeko so goddamn powerful that it is just impossible for anyone to beat her in a straight fight. In fact, she might actually be able to curb-stomp Yukari, Hecatia and even  _Okina_  unless they go all out. And even then, that might be a close match. This is probably why I subconsciously stretched this chapter out for so long.

So now we have just two more bosses to deal with before it's time for the epilogue to this story.

Next up: Reimu and Marisa faces Alice again, this time in her personal Wonderland.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterwords end here._


	73. Reimu's Nightmare in Wonderland part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Genuine horror elements exists in this chapter, so reader's discretion is TRULY advised!

**Mima's House; Gensokyo**

Mima was anxious.

The evil spirit has not felt that way for a long time. Not since she died and became what she is today...

She had sent Marisa, her star pupil, and Reimu, the future shrine maiden of Hakurei, to talk to Shinki, the ruling demon goddess of Makai...

She knew Makai is a very hostile realm to humans. Despite Shinki's cheery and oftentimes procrastinating nature, Mima knew that the rest of Makai's residents aren't so friendly to the people of Gensokyo (well, Louise is one of the few exceptions). Especially that intangible demon maid, Yumeko, who possesses control over space itself.

And she had sent two  _children_  to do the job that was meant to have been  _hers_.

To make it worse, she had not been able to contact Marisa via crystal orb ever since then. Makai's miasma must be jamming the signals.

Just as Mima is moping around her hideout, thinking about how Reimu and Marisa might be doing, her thoughts is interrupted by a series of gentle knocking on the front door.

"I'll get it." Ako said as she went to the front door.

The little witch grabbed and twisted the doorknob, gently opening the door...only to immediately loudly slam it shut for some reason.

"I-i-it's the Ultimate Sadistic Creature!" Ako, with her back against the door, stammered.

Mima couldn't help but crack a smile at the nickname. "Then be a good girl and let her in."

"B-b-but..." Ako hesitated, her instinct telling her to keep the door shut.

"If she really did came here to hurt someone, she wouldn't have knocked on the door like a visiting guest, would she?" Mima argued. "Just let her in, will you?"

Ako glanced at the door for a short while, then turned back to Mima. "O-Okay..."

The little witch opened the door all the way, and quickly ran to the back of the hideout after that.

Standing outside Mima's hideout right now is Kazami Yuuka. Her long green hair, plaid waistcoat and pants, along with her pink parasol made it undeniable that it's her.

"Well, what are you doing, just standing there?" Mima told the flower Youkai. "Come on in."

Yuuka seemed to hesitate briefly before she stepped in, depositing her parasol next to the door after closing it behind her.

"So, before we start..." Mima began. "What happened between you and my apprentices that they've taken to calling you the Ultimate Sadistic Creature?" She asked while glancing at her apprentices, whom have all flipped a desk and several bookshelves over to hide behind as cover.

"I brutally hurt a group of Makai tourists..." Yuuka explained. She is then met with the evil spirit's cocking eyebrows. "Th-they were going to hurt these little girls," she pointed at the apprentice witches, whom all dove behind their cover almost immediately. "a-a-and I was just trying to save them! I don't know how in Gensokyo did they get the nickname 'Ultimate Sadistic Creature' in that..."

"I guess it's something you'll never be able to live down..." Mima responded, in a tone that sound like she's making a joke.

Yuuka cleared her throat in order to get Mima's focus back on the intended topic. "A-anyway, I came here because you specifically asked for me." She reminded.

"Oh, yes, that." Mima said before "clearing" her throat. The mood changed as well. "I need you to help me with something..."

Yuuka put a hand on her hips, and raised her eyebrows. "Help you? You still trust me to do something for you, even after I unwittingly caused Gensokyo's Youkai population to go berserk?"

"Yes. And I'll make it simple..." Mima answered with a slightly serious demeanor. "Have you ever been to Makai before?"

...

**Entrance Hall, Shinki's Castle; Pandemonium, Makai**

All was silent in the entrance hall of Shinki's castle...

That silence is quickly ended with the sound of something hard smashing against stone, as the cobblestone floor began to crack.

The cracks continued to grow with each instance of the smashing sound, until the floor gave way and collapsed into the hidden chamber below, leaving a small hole in it.

A soot-covered hand shot out of the hole in the floor, followed by another hand that is holding a Ying-Yang Orb.

Reimu, clothes covered in soot and has cobblestone fragments stuck in her hair, wiggled herself through the hole in the floor. "Marisa, you and your flashy magic..." She remarked as she turned around to extend a hand into the hole.

A hand carrying a magic wand shot out of the hole and grabbed Reimu's hand. With the shrine maiden trainee's help, Marisa climbed out of the hole. The witch is also covered in soot, and her long blonde hair now a mess (yet the bangs covering her right eye is strangely enough still straight). "We'd still be stuck otherwise, so quit complainin'." She said. She turned to reach back into the hole, pulling her flying broomstick out of it.

Reimu then pointed at the Ofuda on her neck. "You're lucky your big explosion did not cause this to come off..."

That made Marisa freeze as she remembered the Ofuda on her own neck. "Oh, right. Point taken. I'll be careful..."

"I hope you would..." Reimu said as she combed her hair with her fingers, removing some of the cobblestone fragment stuck in it. "Huh? Never thought that maid would have a torture chamber all to herself right under her master's castle..."

"And it ain't got no secret entrance to it." Marisa pointed out. "Figures. Why need a door when ya can just freakin' teleport or go straight through the floor?"

Both girls stopped when they noticed something darting past their feet, went up the stairs and disappeared into the second floor.

"Did you see that?" Reimu asked Marisa.

"A rabbit in a coat? Yep..." Marisa shrugged. "And I'm tryin' to wrap my head 'round it..."

"Me too..." Reimu also shrugged. "We should be careful..."

...

**Castle Corridors**

The rest of the castle turned out to be about as extravagant as the entrance hall. The corridors are just cobblestone walls, floors and ceilings lit by the occasional torches. There weren't much decors aside from a few coat of arms with something written on them in the Makaiese language.

Of course, the point remains that the castle doesn't appear to have any servants or guards in it. Perhaps Yumeko filled all those positions, and her recent defeat have left them temporarily vacant.

"Good thing for us that this castle don't have any staff members 'side from that intangible lady back there." Marisa said as she glided through the corridors and ascended the occasional stairways on her flying broomstick.

"The demon goddess didn't think of having additional guards or security measures just in case her only servant is defeated..." Reimu added. "I guess she isn't as smart as her title of demon  _goddess_  would suggest..."

The girls stopped their discussion when they noticed something darting past them from behind, and ran deeper into the corridors in front of them.

"It's that rabbit in the coat again!" Marisa pointed out. "The heck's goin' on here?"

Reimu held her gohei out, and conjured the Ying-Yang Orb to her side. "Someone's trying to grab our attention..."

The girls pressed on with traversing the corridors and ascending the castle - the un-decorated cobblestone walls and floors were starting to get very bland for them.

It wasn't very long before they saw the coated rabbit darting past them again, except this time it ran straight at a door...

And literally went right through the door as though it wasn't there.

"Something strange is definitely going on here..." Reimu thought as she eyed the door with suspicion. "Marisa, I think we need to-"

The shrine maiden trainee paused when she noticed Marisa dismounting her flying broomstick and slowly approached the door on foot, leaving her flying broomstick behind to hover by itself.

"Marisa, what are you doing?" Reimu asked as she landed and walked behind the witch.

Marisa did not answer. She continued to slowly approach the door, as though attracted to it.

Reimu became more suspicious than before. She got in front of Marisa to try and get her attention. That's when the shrine maiden trainee noticed that Marisa wasn't blinking at all. The witch's face is suddenly not showing any expression, and her normally yellow eyes now have a blue hue that seems to be glowing too, as she stared at the door, approaching it with her right hand now extended toward it.

There's no mistaking it: Marisa appears to have been taken control by something.

"Marisa!" Reimu became worried, as she grabbed and shook the witch by her shoulders. "STOP WAKE UP!"

The shaking seems to have snapped Marisa out of whatever is controlling her. She blinked several times as her eyes returned to being yellow.

"What's goin' on? Why are ya holdin' me like that?" Marisa asked, wondering why Reimu is suddenly in front of her.

Reimu sighed in relief. "You...weren't yourself." She explained. "Something or someone has taken control of your body, and made you approach that door..." She then looked at the door behind her.

"Taken control...of me?" Marisa repeated as she called her flying broomstick over.

Before anything else can be said, the door somehow opened on its own accord...

...And a blob of shadow lashed out from behind it, swallowing both girls before they can react...

...

_"Hello, my two puppets~_

_I hope your trip down the rabbit's burrow wasn't too unpleasant~_

_You don't have to eat or drink anything to go through tiny doors~_

_But you can come to the party I've prepared if you like~_

_Or how about a chat with a smiling cat~?_

_Or a game of flamingos and hedgehogs~?_

_Either way, I will be waiting for you~_

_Welcome to my Little Wonderland~"_

...

**"Little Wonderland"**

Reimu have no idea how long she was out cold for.

She thought she heard a voice. A voice of a little girl. A voice with an odd accent. A very familiar voice...

When she opened her eyes, the shrine maiden trainee found herself inside a black void with slight blue hues, sitting on a western chair before a western tea table dotted with various western silverware including teapots and teacups, not unlike the ones Marisa and her witch friends were setting up at the Hakurei Shrine before she went to Makai to resolve an Incident.

Of course, there were differences: instead of Ako and gang sitting by the tea table, it was Reimu, Marisa (who sat to her left and appears to have only just stirred), two puppets that resembled the demon witches from the city's streets...

And sitting directly opposite of Reimu, that was unmistakably the same girl she and Marisa encountered at the ravine, with the main difference being that her book is now open.

"Wake up, my puppets~" Alice said with a sing-song voice, which would've sounded spine-chilling were it not for her  _hilariously thick_  accent.

Reimu would've shot up from the chair and instinctively launched the Ying-Yang Orb at the little creepy puppeteer, except that she for some reason is unable to. Instead, she felt like much of her body is refusing to do as her mind commanded. She looked toward Marisa, who seems to be having the same problem.

"What do you want?" Reimu asked defiantly. At least she now knows that she can still speak.

"Lemme guess...ya still want us to be your dolls?" Marisa spoke out.

"Yes~" Alice replied with a cheery voice. "And I'm about to make you into one! I'm so excited about it~" As that is said, a blue magic rune seemed to float out of the little puppeteer's book, which she then flicked at Marisa.

Upon making contact with Marisa (who is unable to dodge it), the magic rune dissolved into a translucent blue aura that slowly enveloped the witch's entire body.

"I don't like the looks of this..." Marisa could only comment, as she is unable to do anything about it.

Reimu desperately looked around to see if there's any way she could get herself and Marisa out of their current predicament.

As the shrine maiden trainee laid her eyes on the two puppets that resembled the demon witches, she noticed something very odd about them.

Those two puppets appear to be  _talking_...or rather, made voices that sounded like they're talking without moving their mouths...

 _"And there goes another person..."_  One of the puppets said.

 _"I'd rather be tortured by Miss Yumeko than literally becoming one of Young Mistress Alice's playthings..."_  The other puppet said.

Thinking she was just hearing things, Reimu dismissed the voices as she turned toward Marisa. "Hold on, we'll figure out a way to-"

The shrine maiden trainee paused. On the chair where Marisa sat, there was just a puppet on it that resembled her, complete with purple dress and witch hat, and even her face-covering bangs.

Reimu wondered how was Marisa able to disappear so quickly and without anyone noticing. And then she remembered the magic rune that Alice had flicked at the witch, at which point, it dawned on Reimu as she paled instantly.

 _"Oh, you've gotta be kiddin'..."_  Marisa's voice came from the puppet bearing her likeness.

That isn't a puppet of Marisa, that  _is_  Marisa. The witch was  _literally_  turned into a puppet by Alice's magic.

Reimu became so ghostly pale that even Mima looked more alive than she is, and becoming even more so when she saw how Alice was looking forward to doing the same to her.

"I'm sorry you felt unpleasant. But don't worry, you will feel better in a short while~" Alice told Marisa cheerily. "You don't need to worry either~" The little puppeteer then told Reimu. "You'll be joining her in a brief moment~"

Reimu's heart skipped a beat when she saw another blue magic rune floating out of Alice's book. She desperately tried to break free of whatever magic is restraining her body, but with no success. She'll have to try a different approach instead...

"Wait!" The shrine maiden trainee called out.

Alice stopped just short of flicking the blue magic rune at Reimu. The magic rune stayed where it is as the little puppeteer lowered her hand. "You want to say something?" She asked.

Reimu stammered at first, as she hasn't actually thought of what to say. She swallowed once before speaking out, "I-I was th-thinking that perhaps we could just have a...a tea party..."

 _"Reimu, what are you thinking?"_  Came Marisa's voice from her puppet form. She sounded like she was trying to protest.

"J-just shut up for now..." Reimu whispered to to the puppet-ized witch. "How...how about that?" She finished her suggestion to Alice.

"A tea party, you say?" Alice seemed to take the suggestion into consideration. She touched her chin as she gave it a thought.

It seems to be working. As the little puppeteer became distracted by thinking about something else, the magic restrain she has on Reimu has 'loosened' a bit. Though not 'loose' enough as all Reimu could do is wiggle her body on the chair.

"Y-yes, a tea party..." Reimu tried her best to keep Alice occupied in thought. "You know...like one with no magic spells and turning people into puppets. J-just people sitting around a table, with tea and sweets...yes, sweets..."

"Sweets?" Alice wondered. "Maybe I could make more with magic? Or maybe I should ask Yumeko or mum?"

With the little puppeteer becoming more distracted, the magical restrain on Reimu 'loosened' even further until it's simply gone, allowing her to move her arms and body freely, with Alice none the wiser at the moment.

Seizing the opportunity, Reimu inched herself as close to Marisa as she could in an attempt to grab the puppet-ized witch. As she leaned away from her chair, Reimu noticed that the tea table and the chairs surrounding it weren't on any solid ground at all. They all appeared to be simply floating in the middle of the void.

 _"What are you doing?"_  Marisa's voice whispered to Reimu.

"Trying to get us both out of here..." Reimu whispered back.

Realizing she couldn't lean any closer without falling over, the shrine maiden trainee extended her hand out to try and grab Marisa. The tip of her fingers were ghosting Marisa's puppet form ( _"This tickles..."_  the witch complained), and was almost within grabbing range...

"What are you doing?"

Reimu froze. Alice had noticed her movement.

"I-I'm just trying to get to my friend over here..." Reimu made up a very poor-sounding excuse on the spot. "She...uh...looks lonely..."

Alice blinked twice. Then her smile returned. "Oh, don't worry! I'll make sure the two of you are always by each others' sides~" That said, the little puppeteer raised her right hand, moving it closer to the blue magic rune that has been hovering over her book for a while.

Reimu paled again. She's got no intention to spend the rest of her life as a part of this creepy little girl's playthings, and she guessed Marisa's probably thinking the same thing.

So she, eschewing stealth, shot her hand toward the puppet-ized Marisa - good thing Alice's magic restrain did not return with her attention - as she grabbed for the witch.

But Reimu wasn't able to. She had leaned too far out of her chair, causing her to tumble over and, due to the lack of a solid ground in this void, kept on falling...

And falling...

And falling...

And falling...

She tried to slow her descend with her flight powers, but wasn't able to for some reason. "Marisaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!" The shrine maiden trainee screamed as she helplessly watched the chair with her friend on it getting further away as she fell.

...

After falling for what felt like five minutes, Reimu felt her uncontrolled descend getting slower and slower...

Until she came to a halt a meter before hitting what looked like a ceramic floor with checkered pattern in various shades of red.

Reimu did not activate her flight ability as she still couldn't, so she wondered what might be going on. But before she could wonder any further, gravity suddenly reactivated and caused her to fall the remaining distance, landing with a thud.

The shrine maiden trainee groaned in pain. Between Makai and all her previous incidents, this could not possibly get any worse...

She stood up and looked around, finding herself to be in the middle of the same void as before, just with a ceramic floor this time to make it look like a chamber with no walls and ceilings (at least not visible ones). She then noticed a glass table in front of her that wasn't there a second ago, and on top of the table is a corked glass bottle with a label that says " _DRINK ME_ ". Reimu suspected it could be a trap, so she walked past it, toward the door it overlooked.

The door looked just like the one from before, with the exception being that this one is very small, only reaching up to Reimu's knees. Suspecting it to be yet another trap, Reimu took a step back from the small door as she looked around for an alternative path. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any, and she still can't use her flight powers...

A chill went down Reimu's spine as she suddenly felt uneasy. She instinctively looked up, and saw Alice hovering in the air with her book.

"No need to say anything~" The little puppeteer said. "I know your trip down the rabbit's burrow did not go so well~"

Reimu have no idea what to say to keep Alice from turning her into a puppet. And she does not intend to stay around and wait for it.

It appears that the small door is the only way out. And she'll have to use her brains more than brute force for this.

"Th-that was a rabbit's burrow?" Reimu said, just to buy time as she inched toward the glass table at a snail's pace. "I-it doesn't look like one..."

"Oh, I'm still working on designing my little Wonderland~" Alice replied.

"Designing...your little...Wonderland?" Reimu wondered out loud, as she continued to inch closer to the glass table.

"Yes! I finally got this book open after Yumeko brought me back from where we last met, and it gave me all the magic powers I need to do all this~!" Alice explained excitedly, as she lifted her book up a bit to emphasize it. "It opened by  _complete accident_ , though, not that I mind it. And speaking of which, I forgive you and your friend for what happened back there..."

Now Reimu could confirm for real that the book the little puppeteer is holding is the same one she held from back at the ravine. That book will have to be taken care of if a second fight against Alice, a  _real_  one, occurs...

The shrine maiden trainee, while thinking about Alice, had forgotten about the glass table, and only remembered it when she bumped into it.

"Why do you want me and my friend as your puppets, anyway?" Reimu can't help but ask, as she slowly moved her hand toward the glass bottle on the table.

Alice paused upon being asked that question, her smile faded. "Why? Well, I was feeling a bit lonely, and everyone, including Yumeko and mum, were almost always busy with work and don't have time to play with me..." She said.

Reimu also paused as her hand touched the glass bottle. In spite of what Alice planned to do with her, she can't help but pity the little puppeteer, comparing the situation to her speech about family to Marisa back at Reimaden all those months ago.

"But," Alice spoke as her smile returned. "Once I have you as one of my puppets, I won't feel so lonely anymore~" That said, she conjured another magic blue rune out of her book.

Reimu's eyes widened in response. Gripping the glass bottle hard, she raised it up and then threw it at the little puppeteer, who easily dodges it by moving out of the way, but is momentarily distracted doing so.

The shrine maiden trainee then ran back toward the small door and, with a powerful kick, knocked it off its hinges. Deciding not to stay any longer in Alice's presence, Reimu then knelt down and started to crawl through the small doorway.

Alice quickly recovers, and notices Reimu making her getaway. "Where are you going, my purple-haired puppet~?" The little puppeteer then flicked the blue magic rune toward Reimu.

Reimu hasn't crawled very far through the doorway before she hit a slope of some kind and tumbled down it.

...

The slope didn't go down very far, and within a few seconds of tumbling down it, Reimu came to a halt at the bottom.

Unlike her landing on the ceramic-like floor earlier, Reimu felt no pain this time, and picked herself up from the texture-less ground almost immediately with no delays or hesitations.

The shrine maiden trainee instinctively tried to massage her neck and check to make sure the Ofuda suppressing Yumeko's Eternal Suffering Curse had not come off...before she quickly noticed that something doesn't feel quite right.

The Ofuda is still there. But instead of the skin of her neck, it felt like it is sticking to fabric.

Reimu retracted her hand and put them in front of her eyes. They were glowing a blue hue.

Dreadfully hoping that she was just hallucinating, the shrine maiden trainee brought her hands up, and rubbed her eyes.

Instead of wet, fleshy eyeballs, she felt her fingers rubbing against cold, hard glass.

Reimu's fears are confirmed, and she would've hyperventilated in panic were it not for her suddenly having no breaths anymore.

Alice's spell had hit her, and she is about to turn into a puppet...

* * *

Wow, this chapter is almost as long as the previous one, at over 4000 words.

Truth be told, I originally planned to write this chapter from when Reimu and Marisa meets Alice again, to Reimu defeating Alice for good and moving on to Shinki. But then I realized that it is getting way too long, and had to cut it short here. So the second fight against Alice ended up being a two-parter.

As I was halfway through writing this chapter, I've realized the genre has veered away from the fantasy adventure  _Spirit Dream_  is, to the fantasy  _horror_  this chapter (and the next one which this would've been a part of) has become. I mean, a magic-using little girl whose grimoire lets her create an entire realm as well as  _literally_  turning people into puppets,  _on top_  of having the appropriate personality? Some horror movie elements right there...and yes, the  _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_  references are intentional.

And yeah, I ended up going against my original plan of not having Mima and Yuuka take part in the  _Mystic Square_  arc. Because of the massive buffs I gave to Yumeko and Ex-Alice (to the point of making them look overpowered compared to their canon selves), I felt that having Shinki be on a level where Reimu and Marisa wouldn't have to struggle against her will not do her justice when her right hand maid and (adopted) daughter had Reimu fear for her life. So I had to scrap the original plan, and let Mima and Yuuka come to Reimu and Marisa's rescue.

Next time: Reimu struggles to save herself from being fully turned into a puppet.

"And that, as they say, is that."

_Afterwords end here._


	74. Reimu's Nightmare in Wonderland part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No horror elements in this chapter due to unforeseen circumstances. No reader's discretion needed.

**"Little Wonderland"**

"This has all got to be a dream. Yes, it has to be..."

Reimu kept telling herself that, as she is unable to process the grim truth of her turning into a puppet due to Alice's spell.

"Wake up, Hakurei Reimu! Wake up!" She began slapping herself repeatedly as she kept trying to escape from reality. But with all of her skin replaced by fabric, each of those slap caused no pain at all, making it impossible for her to answer her own doubt.

Reimu collapsed on the ground. She wanted to cry, but no tears came from her glass eyes.

With her, the only person to succeed the position of the Hakurei shrine maiden, gone, who is going to maintain the Hakurei shrine? Who is going to keep Gensokyo's Youkai population in check? Who is going to solve any potentially world-ending Incident that might occur? And who is going to keep buying all the sweets from the village's sweet stores?

She thought of Marisa too. The witch has no siblings, and was the only child. Even if she is able to escape from Makai back to Gensokyo, how is Reimu going to explain to Mr. and Mrs. Kirisame that their only daughter has been turned into a literal puppet by a creepy little girl from a realm of demons? They will be devastated...

Reimu balled herself up on the ground. She just sat there, emotionally devastated while mumbling about how she was useless and unable to protect Marisa. She raised her hands to wipe her nonexistent tears, feeling once again her fabric fingers rubbing against her glass eyes. She then lowered her hands and wrapped them around her legs, feeling the soft, cotton-filled fabric they have become. She had all but gave up on any hope...

She raised her hands up once again, and looked at them. She is sure she is looking at her own hands, yet at the same time looking at a pair of puppet hands.

Her eyes widened - as much as glass eyeballs behind fabric eyelids would allow - as she suddenly realized something.

When Marisa was struck by Alice's spell, she shrunk and turned into a puppet within seconds.

But with Reimu...even though the spell turned her body into cotton and fabric, she is still human-sized and could move her body freely, and several minutes have passed since she was struck by that same spell.

Have throwing that glass bottle at Alice distracted the little puppeteer enough that she ended up casting an incomplete spell?

She recalled the magical restrain Alice had on her back at the tea table, and how the magical restrain weakened when the little puppeteer was distracted by thinking deeply about other things.

Putting the pieces together, Reimu came to the conclusion that Alice needs to be focused for her spells to be effective, which means that she can be defeated by distracting her enough before delivering the knockout blow. And perhaps defeating the little puppeteer will undo all of her spells.

With that thought, the shrine maiden trainee regained her composure and will to push on. She is the future Hakurei shrine maiden, and she will prove that she has the credentials to hold that title!

But first, she need to find a way out of...whatever this place is...or at the very least, find Alice.

"Oh, there you are~"

Reimu felt like she skipped a heartbeat - even though she's sure her innards have all turned into cotton - when she heard that voice.

The shrine maiden trainee turned around, initially seeing no one else nearby.

Then the pitch black environment suddenly morphed into the middle of a forest of purple trees with blue leaves, with Alice appearing just as suddenly as the environment did.

"Look at this beautiful forest I've crea-" Alice said, then paused as she took a double take at Reimu. "Hey, you're still too big for a puppet!"

Reimu tried her best to act calm. She knows that if she gets struck by another one of Alice's blue magic runes, she'll fully turn into a puppet like what happened to Marisa. "Maybe you forgot something..." She said as she started thinking of a plan to defeat Alice.

"Forgot something...?" Alice wondered, going into deep thoughts again.

 _This is it. She's distracted._  Reimu thought.

Of course, that distraction didn't last long enough for Reimu to even finish thinking up step one of her plan. "I know! I'll just hit you with that spell again, make you as small as your witch friend~!"

Reimu cursed under her breath - or lack of thereof as her puppet body doesn't breathe. She cannot take on this little puppeteer head-on, or she'll risk getting hit by another blue magic rune and turn into a real puppet.

With that, the shrine maiden trainee had no choice but to turn tail and run.

"Hey, where are you going?" Alice called out, before giving chase by flying toward Reimu's direction.

...

Reimu kept running in one direction as fast as as her fabric and cotton legs could manage, while Alice is hot on her trail.

"My purple-haired puppet~" Alice said as she flew right behind Reimu. "Do you want to play a game? I know a game~"

Reimu looked behind her, and saw Alice conjuring several blue magic runes at once. The shrine maiden trainee knew it is time for her to get evasive.

As Alice launched all her blue magic runes out, Reimu picked up her paces, and darted through the trees to use them as cover from the spells. Some spells were blocked by the trees while others simply missed - good thing Alice is a lousy shot.

Reimu kept running, occasionally looking back to see where Alice's next shots are aimed. Using the trees as covers, she dodged the next barrage of blue magic runes without slowing down, and kept on running.

"You're very good at this~" Alice said as she sent out another barrage of blue magic runes.

Reimu kept running, zipping past one tree after another as the covers they provided (and Alice's poor accuracy) helped saved her from becoming more puppet-like than she already is.

At one point, Reimu ran face-first into a low-hanging branch, causing her to fall on her back. That didn't hurt due to her fabric skin, but she quickly noticed the fractures that had formed in her glass eyes, which thankfully didn't obscure her vision too much. She quickly got up, and continued running just in time to avoid getting hit by a blue magic rune.

The fractures in her glass eyes still quickly became an issue, though. Having uneven white lines running past one's eyes, no matter how small said lines are, can still negatively affect one's vision. Reimu now finds it difficult to see clearly because of the fractures, almost failing to notice a blue magic rune coming straight at her at one point.

Reimu pushed on despite the fractures on her glass eyes obstructing her sight. She kept on running while Alice kept on chasing her and firing off blue magic runes.

The shrine maiden trainee noticed, through her slightly fractured glass eyes, that she is approaching a small clearing in the forest, with something boulder-sized in the middle of it.

Reimu didn't think of anything else. She just kept running until she emerged from the forest into the clearing. She then slid under the boulder-sized object - she noticed from up close that it is a huge mushroom - and emerged from the other side where she quickly got up and ran back into the forest. Reimu almost stopped to do a double-take as she swore she saw what looked like a caterpillar puffing out smoke from something sitting on top of the huge mushroom, but told herself to ignore it as Alice is still on her trail.

...

Reimu didn't run very far before she came across another clearing. This one has a bigger tea table than what Alice had set up earlier, with more chairs around it and more silverware laid over it, though all of those silverware are empty at the moment. Hanging on the backrest of one of the chairs is a drum-shaped western hat with a numbered tag. Looks like this tea table is meant for an actual tea party, though one has to wonder what or who the western hat is supposed to represent in the bizzare context of this realm.

Reimu looked back to find that she has left Alice far behind. But she knew the little puppeteer will eventually catch up. So she quickly hid under the tea table, the tablecloth being large enough to cover the underside of the table as well.

Less than a minute later, Alice arrived at the clearing. She looked around, but couldn't find the shrine maiden trainee.

"Where are you, my purple-haired puppet~?" Alice said as she hovered over the tea table, looking for Reimu, completely unaware that her target is right below her.

Reimu didn't dare take a peek, afraid of getting hit by another blue magic rune and fully turning into a puppet. She stayed very still under the table as Alice continued looking around above it. This already tense moment is made tenser by her puppet body having no heartbeats and breaths.

"Are you afraid~?" Alice said with a sing-song voice as she continued looking. "Don't be afraid, I just want to play with you~"

Just the way the little puppeteer spoke sent chills up and down Reimu's fabric skin.

"Or maybe you're just bored with how dull this place is~?" Alice said as she gently landed next to the tea table.

The spot she landed on happens to be right next to where Reimu is hiding.

Reimu remained as still as possible as she watched through the tablecloth the silhouette of Alice standing right there.

"If you think this place is dull, I can just make some changes~" Alice said.

Almost immediately after the little puppeteer finished her sentence, the environment began to shift in clearly artificial ways, with the tea table, the silverware on it and the chairs around it simply fading from existence.

The environment continued to shift until the forest is replaced by what appeared to be a large field with several strangely-shaped hedges all over, with a western castle overlooking it. There were also a dozen sets of elevated seats that were meant for a large audience (but are all vacant right now).

Of course, with Reimu's hiding place gone, the shrine maiden trainee now found herself in plain view of Alice.

"There! Not so dull anymore, right~?" Alice asked as she looked at Reimu. "Now we just need a flamingo or two, and a hedgehog..."

The shrine maiden trainee froze in fear, her eyes as wide as glass eyeballs behind fabric eyelids could possibly be.

"Oh?" Alice quickly noticed the fractures on Reimu's glass eyes. "Your eyes have cracked. Poor thing..." She said as she extended a hand toward Reimu. "But it's alright. I can fix it~"

Reimu isn't taking any chances. She crawled on her behind and backed away from Alice, but didn't make it very far before she was backed against a hedge.

"Don't be afraid. You won't feel a thing about this~" Alice said, as magic energy began to pour out of her hand toward Reimu.

...

**Mystic Square; Pandemonium, Makai**

"Oh, my star pupil, you really overdid things here..."

Mima remarked as she, alongside Yuuka, flew over the burning capital city.

"J-just what kind of spell did you teach your pupils?!" Yuuka asked.

Mima seemed to snicker before replying, "Just some spells that'd be useful for everyday life, including for attacking bad girls."

Yuuka shrugged. She had no idea that one of the girls to have defeated her possessed such powerful spells at her disposal.

The evil spirit and the flower Youkai continued flying through the burning city before touching down in the middle of the Mystic Square.

"No matter how many times I look at this, I keep thinking that Shinki is trying to show off..." Mima told herself as she looked at the demon goddess's castle.

"You still haven't told me who we'll be meeting..." Yuuka reminded Mima as she nudged the evil spirit with her elbow (which went right through her).

"Haven't I? Oh, silly me..." Mima said. "We're going to be meeting Makai's ruling demon goddess-"

"D-demon goddess?!" Yuuka exclaimed upon hearing that.

"She's actually rather silly and absent-minded most of the time. Pretty unusual for a diabolical being if you ask me..." Mima clarified for the flower Youkai. "Though she can sometimes be overprotective of her daughter."

"She has a daughter?!" Yuuka exclaimed again.

"Adopted, yes." Mima clarified some more.

Mima then approached the front gate of Shinki's Castle, pointing her scepter at it.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to just blast down someone's front door?" Yuuka asked with a shrug as she followed Mima.

Mima glanced at the flower Youkai. "Reimu and Marisa blasted down  _your_  front door, didn't they?"

Yuuka simply nodded in response. To be fair, she had it coming for unwillingly starting the Lotus Land Story Incident back then.

...

**Entrance Hall; Shinki's Castle**

BOOM!

Chunks of the front door are sent flying across the entrance hall as Mima cast her spell.

"Yumeko will be  _so_  pissed about the door..." Mima snickered as she went through the hole in the front door.

Yuuka poked her head through the hole. "I take it that this is not the first door you blew out?" She asked with a shrug as she stepped into the entrance hall.

"I did that quite a lot when I was still alive." The evil spirit answered straightforwardly.

Yuuka shrugged again. The flower Youkai reminded herself not to mess with the evil spirit.

Mima quickly noticed the hole on the floor, and went to look down it. "Hmm. So this is where the Chamber of Sufferings have been all these time..."

Chamber of Sufferings. That name sent chills down Yuuka's spine.

Beyond the hole in the floor is the Chamber of Sufferings...or what is left of it after Yumeko's battle with Reimu and Marisa. Yumeko is tied from neck to toe in chains to one of the few torture devices that survived the fight, with an Ofuda slapped to her face to keep her incapacitated, and frozen in an ice block for good measure. The demon maid appear to be still unconscious.

 _Well, I'm glad they managed to get past Shinki's loyal dog..._  Mima thought.  _But they haven't reached Shinki yet. So where are they?_  She then scanned the surroundings for any signs of Reimu and Marisa.

Yuuka slowly approached Mima, but then stopped after taking just two steps.

Mima quickly noticed Yuuka's sudden pausing. "What's wrong? You heard something?"

" _Sensed_  something..." Yuuka explained. "It's even more powerful than the Dream Sisters' powers..."

Mima raised her eyebrows, then glanced over her shoulder at the top of the staircase. "I sense it now too...and its isolated to a tiny area, about the size of a bedroom-"

The evil spirit stopped mid-sentence, her eyes went wide, upon realizing what it might be.

"Yuuka, I know you swore off the powers you got that set off the Lotus Land Story Incident, but right now I  _need_  you to use it for something..." Mima became serious all of a sudden.

Yuuka didn't like the sound of it. "W-why? What could be so important or dangerous as to warrant that?"

The evil spirit turned to face the flower Youkai. That look on her face is an indication that she is desperate about it.

"Because Shinki's adopted daughter possesses something that can make even Shinki herself look like a weakling in comparison..."

...

**"Little Wonderland"**

Reimu felt odd as Alice's magic flowed into her body. While she is grateful that the fractures in her glass eyes are starting to fade away, she also felt herself shrinking smaller as the spell continued its work.

If the shrine maiden trainee doesn't do something, she will be fully turned into a puppet.

Not wanting that to happen, Reimu got up to her feet, and lunged at Alice.

Alice was caught by surprise by Reimu lunging at her, and didn't have time to get out of the way as the shrine maiden trainee tackled her, causing her to drop her book and interrupting the spell.

"Ow! Why did you do that for?!" Alice exclaimed.

"I'm sorry for doing this, but I don't want to turn into your puppet!" Reimu - now the same height as Alice when she was a head taller before - told the little puppeteer as she got up, scooped the book up, and then closed it...Or rather, she  _tried_  to close it. It's as if the book has a mind of its own, and refused to be closed by Reimu's puppet hands.

Of course, with Alice being a spoiled little girl, she was bound to throw a tantrum when she doesn't get what she wants, which is exactly what happened here.

"No!" Alice said angrily. She then extended both hands forward, causing her book to fly out of Reimu's hands back into hers. "I  _want_  you to be my puppet!"

As that is said, the environment shifted once again. This time, everything in it faded out of existence except for Alice and Reimu, plunging the two back into the same black void with blue hues from the beginning.

At the same time, Reimu suddenly found herself wrapped in a sphere of blue magic, unable to do anything but flail her limbs about. "Please don't..." She plead for mercy to no avail.

"And then you will play with me for the rest of your life!" Alice added, before creating a barrage of blue magic runes and flinging them all at Reimu.

This time, Reimu couldn't do anything about the blue magic runes, completely helpless as she watched them make contact with her body.

That odd feeling came back. The shrine maiden trainee noticed her body rapidly shrinking, then she felt all of her facial features save her eyes fading out of existence and being replaced by nothing but smooth fabric, and finally losing all control of her body as she kept shrinking until she can't shrink any further.

Alice hovered over to Reimu - who is now a palm-sized puppet - and plucked her out of the blue magic sphere which then disintegrated. "Don't worry, I will make sure to put you right next to your blonde friend..."

 _"Why are you so obsessed with having me and Marisa as your puppets?"_  Reimu's voice came from her puppet form, sounding like she was furious and afraid.

"Because I was lonely, and I wanted some playmates..." Alice said, with her anger fading out completely. "Like I said earlier, mum and Yumeko were always busy with work...and no one else from the city wanted to play with me..." She added, sounding like she was sad.

Reimu's emotion went into conflict here. The puppet-ized shrine maiden trainee doesn't know whether she should be afraid for being turned into a full puppet, be sad for pitying Alice, or be deadpan for knowing exactly why most of Makai's citizen wanted nothing to do with the little puppeteer. If Marisa was here, the witch will probably be snarking about it with her usual  _gaijin_  mentality.

"And now that I've got you..." Alice then said. As she clicked her fingers, the same tea table from the beginning reappeared along with the silverware on it, the chairs around it, and the puppets sitting on the chairs including Marisa. "We can get back to the tea party!" The little puppeteer said, her smile returned as she placed Reimu next to Marisa.

 _"I take it that things didn't go so well for ya?"_  Marisa, still a puppet, asked Reimu.

 _"You still have the mood to snark about this?!"_  Reimu shot back in disbelief, even though she knew the witch would do just that. She'd have smacked the witch if she could still move her body.

 _"Well, on the bright side, we ain't gonna age no more..."_  Marisa said.  _"That is, as long as we don't get ripped apart and have our cotton innards spilled all over..."_

Reimu went into even more disbelief at how Marisa is able to say something so morbid and still be snarky about it. In a hopeless situation, even...

Apparently, even Alice thought that Marisa's "cotton innards" speech is too morbid, as the little puppeteer narrowed her eyes with just as much disbelief as Reimu has. As are the two puppet-ized Makai witches "sitting" on the other chairs, as they sounded like they groaned at the statement.

"Who'd just say something like that so casually?!" Alice called out on Marisa. "It's not like anything bad is going to happen to my puppets!"

"Are you sure about that?"

Alice seemed to gasp upon hearing that voice. She turned around, and immediately became furious upon seeing who it was. "YOU!"

It was Mima, hovering right over there with all her ghostly glory and being smug about it.

Reimu and Marisa were both surprised by the evil spirit's sudden appearance.

 _"Miss Mima!"_  Marisa exclaimed.

 _"How did you get in here?!"_  Reimu also exclaimed.

Mima glanced at the puppet-ized girls. "I see that the two of you have shed a lot of weight." She said. "Anyway, this is all just Alice's bedroom, blanketed in the magic of that Grimoire of hers. Getting in is literally just a matter of walking in, or in my case, floating in." The evil spirit then pointed over her shoulder. "Although I don't think we can go back out unless we take care of that Grimoire."

Alice held her Grimoire closer to her body. "I won't let you touch my Grimoire, you green-haired wankstain!"

"My, my..." Mima shushed in response to that. "What could you be angry about, I wonder?"

Alice, deciding not to wait any further, flipped her book to another page, where massive amounts of red magic energy then blasted out like a geyser. At the same time, a small stream of magic energy flew out of the geyser toward Alice.

"Don't pretend you've forgotten about the scorpions you've left behind on your last visit!" The little puppeteer said furiously.

"Alright, alright..." Mima said with a shrug. "I admit I overdid that particular prank..."

Reimu and Marisa both noticed something is amiss, particularly the fact that Mima just  _shrugged_ , something the evil spirit has never done before.

"And I'm sorry about it, so...I'm running out of things to say, so please hurry up...!" Mima continued, but started straining her tone mid-sentence.

Alice caught notice of the straining, and blinked in confusion. "Huh? What are you doin-"

The little puppeteer wasn't able to finish her questioning when something crashed into her like a battering ram from out of nowhere, knocking her book out of her grasp once again. Alice was sent flying uncontrollably, plowing through the tea table and the chairs surrounding it. The lack of gravity meant that everything were sent spinning uncontrollably, including the puppet-ized Reimu and Marisa.

As they tumbled in zero gravity, Reimu and Marisa were able to catch a glimpse of what, or who, had rammed Alice.

It was, to both girls' surprise, Kazami Yuuka, the unwilling culprit of the Lotus Land Story Incident. The flower Youkai is wearing the exact same outfit as the one she fought Reimu and Marisa in, and is even carrying the same pink parasol.

 _"Her?!"_  Reimu exclaimed as she tumbled uncontrollably in her puppet form.

 _"Why didja ask_ her _of all people for help?!"_  So did Marisa.

"Long story." Mima said, having no time to explain. She then turned toward Yuuka. "The Grimoire! Close it!"

Yuuka acknowledged the command as she dashed toward Alice's book and caught it with her hands. She then tries to close it, but like Reimu's attempt, the book refuses to be closed despite Yuuka being stronger than the shrine maiden trainee and she is clearly using all her physical strength to boot.

"Mima, a little help here?" The flower Youkai signaled as keeps trying, and fails, to close the book.

Alice quickly recovered as she shot out from behind the tea table that was knocked around in the zero gravity environment. She was radiating with massive amounts of red magic energy, and she is clearly furious about what is going on.

"You evil spirit!" The little puppeteer cried out at Mima. "Would you please  _DIE FOR ME_!"

Mima's eyes twitched at the notion of things not going as planned. "Actually, I'm already dead...literally..."

Alice didn't care what Mima said. She raised both her hands above her head, forming a huge sphere of red magic energy that then transformed into an equally huge beam aimed at the evil spirit.

Mima held her scepter out in front of her, forming a magic shield that blocked off the huge beam. But she immediately noticed the cracks that are beginning to form on the shield, which told her that her shield won't last forever.

"Alright, so shutting the Grimoire didn't work..." Mima lamented. Keeping her shield up, she turned her head to look at Yuuka. "Destroy it, Yuuka! Destroy the Grimoire!"

Yuuka was bewildered by what she just heard. "D-destroy?! But I swore-"

"If you don't, there will be people either being forced to suffer for an eternity, or becoming deader than dead!" Mima interrupted Yuuka's argument. The cracks on her shield is increasing in number, and it is clear she doesn't have much time left before it breaks down.

Yuuka looked at the book, then at Mima, then back and forth between the two before having her thoughts briefly interrupted by the puppet-ized Reimu and Marisa tumbling past her face.

 _"I don't want to be a puppet forever!"_  Reimu cried out hysterically.

 _"I don't wanna either! So just do as Miss Mima freakin' says!"_  Marisa yelled out at Yuuka as she floated uncontrollably past the flower Youkai.

Yuuka hovered there with Alice's book in her hands, pondering her options for a few more seconds before coming to her conclusions.

_I've got no options in this, do I?_

And so, Yuuka released the book from her grasp, allowing it to float away from her in the zero gravity environment. Then the flower Youkai raised her parasol, aiming its tip at the book.

"I  _sincerely_  hope this won't be added to my undeserved infamy as the Ultimate Sadistic Creature..." Yuuka spends a few more seconds lamenting.

A magic circle then formed at the tip of Yuuka's parasol. From it, a thin laser beam shot out toward Alice's book and lands a direct hit. At first, the beam doesn't seem to be doing anything, but then it grew in size and intensity as time passed, until it became as wide as the book is large.

The book is clearly pushing back with its own magic defenses. But it is also clearly losing the fight against Yuuka's power. Glowing cracks began to form on the book's solid hard cover as its defenses gets overwhelmed.

It took a while for Alice to notice that her book is on the brink of getting destroyed. She broke off her attack on Mima as she turned and flew toward the book.

By then, the book's hard cover is practically nothing but glowing cracks after several minutes of getting pounded by Yuuka's laser.

Alice frantically reached out for her book at its final moments. "STOP!"

Then the book erupted in an eye-blinding flash...

* * *

And that settles the "fight" against Alice Margatroid, which is less of a fight and more of Reimu trying to survive like the protagonist of a survival horror game and fails, thus needing a Big Damn Heroes moment from Mima and Yuuka.

Truth be told, I've never expected that this chapter will end up being so freakishly long (by my standards), so long in fact that I had to cut out a lot of things and leave the conclusion of the "fight" to the next chapter (which BTW will have the girls facing off against Shinki). Which is why the  _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_  references ended at the (completely vacant) lawn of the Queen of Hearts' castle, with the one directly before that being the (also completely vacant) Mad Hatter's tea party venue. I originally planned for a cameo by the Cheshire Cat, but was unable to implement it and the Caterpillar ended up being the only  _Wonderland_  cameo seen.

In other words, this chapter is less "Reimu's Nightmare in Wonderland part 2" and more...something else that I don't have a word for...

Like I said in the previous chapter, Mima and Yuuka's appearance in the  _Mystic Square_  arc is not the initial idea, as I planned for them to sit out the arc, but eventually realized that I buffed Yumeko and Alice to such ludicrously overpowered levels that not having Reimu and Marisa struggle against Shinki in any way would not do her justice.

With that said, there's just one more boss battle before we reach the epilogue of  _Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream_ , and then I can start working on the sequel series, which will begin with  _EoSD_  and end with  _PoFV_.

Next time: The final showdown of the Spirit Dream.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	75. Spirit Dream

**Alice's Bedroom**

The destruction of Alice's book immediately caused the blueish void to crack like a glass pane before shattering, replacing the environment with that of the little puppeteer's bedroom.

The spells Alice had cast with the book wore off at the same time, causing Reimu and Marisa to turn back to normal. The same goes for the two Makai witches that were turned into puppets, as they quickly got up and ran straight out of the bedroom without sparing anyone else in it a glance.

Upon turning back, Marisa landed on the floor on her back, and Reimu landed right on top of her. The two girls found themselves in an awkward position where the tip of their nose were touching, and their lips only an inch apart as they stared into the other's eyes.

The awkward moment was forgotten as soon as it happened when the girls realized they have turned back into humans, which they were highly grateful of.

"Now I know what it's like bein' a doll..." Marisa remarked. "I don't wanna have it happen again..."

"Me too..." Reimu said, as she tried to push herself up from Marisa.

But then Reimu's arms slipped against the cobblestone floor, causing her to fall on Marisa again.

This time, the two girls' lips overlapped.

This extremely awkward situation caused both Reimu and Marisa to blush violently from neck to ear, as the shrine maiden trainee quickly broke the accidental kiss and rolled out of the way, laying to the witch's left.

"Oh, jeez!" Marisa exclaimed before wiping her lips with her left sleeve. "Suza ain't gonna let us hear the end of this if she finds out!"

Reimu is still processing what just happened, and her face is still red with embarrassment. "I-I-I-I...I  _kissed_  Marisa! And we're both  _girls_!"

Marisa took a deep breath before sitting up. "Let's just agree to never discuss this, shall we?"

Reimu sighed. "Agreed..."

Meanwhile, Mima and Yuuka stood side-by-side as they watched Alice kneeling by the shattered remains of her Grimoire. The little puppeteer was weeping as she talked about how she had nobody to play with.

Mima and Yuuka felt guilty about having to destroy the Grimoire even though they did so for the sake of self-defense and having to save Reimu and Marisa.

"Poor girl..." Yuuka remarked. "Perhaps I should go apologize to her..."

The flower Youkai took a step forward, but was quickly stopped by Mima.

"Let her be by herself..." The evil spirit told her. "We've did enough by just showing up..."

"But..." Yuuka protested.

"This little girl has had only her adoptive mother and Yumeko as her closest companions, and even they often felt so far away for her..." Mima added. "I'm sure you feel the same in regards to Elly..."

Yuuka took a moment to think about it before nodding. "I see..."

Mima then turned toward Reimu and Marisa. "Come on, you two, get going."

With that, the four people from Gensokyo went out of Alice's bedroom. Reimu, Marisa, and Mima departed without sparing Alice a second glance...

But Yuuka did. She turned back to look at Alice one more time.

"I'm so sorry, little one..." The flower Youkai said as she gently closed the door.

...

**The balcony of Shinki's Castle**

After leaving Alice behind in her bedroom, Reimu, Marisa, Mima and Yuuka continued with their ascend of the castle.

"So what's between the two of ya, anyway?" Marisa asked Mima regarding her relationship with Yuuka.

"We first met back when I was still alive." Mima answered. "That's all I'd say for now."

"All I can say is that it was a rather awkward moment..." Yuuka added.

Marisa became curious about it, but decided to ask for details later because the party has reached the top of the castle's balcony.

Shinki is standing at the far side of the balcony, facing the stairway that the party ascended just now. Looks like the demon goddess has been waiting for them.

"Mima..." Shinki, with her arms crossed, greeted with venom in her tone.

Mima gulped. "She has never been this serious before..." She told Reimu and Marisa. "I don't like the sound of this..."

"I don't like the way these children-" Shinki said to Mima while pointing a finger at Reimu and Marisa. "bullied my dear Alice, beat up Yumeko, and destroyed so much of Pandemonium..."

"You know, none of this would've happened if you've had told  _someone_  about your setting up a...tourism agency..." Mima pointed out. "The so-called tourists from Makai were literally causing a ruckus back in Gensokyo..."

The venom briefly disappeared from Shinki's expression, as she widened her eyes slightly in surprise. "I beg your pardon?"

"To put it simply, Miss...Shinki, is it?" Yuuka interjected. "To put it simply, your citizens were acting less like tourists and more like uncivilized ruffians, and innocent people were getting hurt because of it..."

There was just silence for the next few seconds as Shinki processed what she was just told.

"Then on behalf of the civilized people of Makai, I'm sorry." Shinki then said.

Marisa then put her arms behind her head. "Well, that was easy..." She commented.

"I don't think it's that easy..." Reimu said in suspicion.

Mima then uncrossed her arms. "Well then, with that said, perhaps you should call off your newly established tourism ind-"

"However," Shinki interrupted as she uncrossed her arms as well. "These two children still need to pay for all the damages they did to Makai and its people, and for bullying my dear Alice..."

As that is said, the demon goddess then conjured a demonic-looking rod, and with it, six purple non-corporeal wings with red markings on them sprouted from her back. The process is then followed by a strong gust of wind blowing toward the party's direction as Shinki began to hover off the balcony.

"As punishment, I shall sentence all of you...to death!" Shinki declared before conjuring forth four crimson magic circles by her sides and firing a massive hail of danmaku at the party.

Reimu, Marisa, Mima and Yuuka all jumped to the sides to avoid the massive hail of danmaku before it completely demolished the spot they were standing on.

"Really?! She wants to kill us because we freakin' hit her girl?" Marisa complained as she mounted her flying broomstick. "Well, granted, I kinda had it comin' by torchin' up her city..."

"Shinki was never a bright ruler to begin with." Mima pointed out as she produced her scepter, then conjured a barrier to deflect the debris made by the attack. "Although 'bright' probably was never the right word to describe a demon..."

Reimu stood up with a determined look as she brandished her gohei and conjured the Ying-Yang Orb by her side. "No matter the case, it looks like diplomacy isn't an option...We'll have to fight our way out of this..."

Yuuka sighed as she picked herself up from the floor of the balcony. "Why does everything have to be so violent..."

...

**Mystic Square**

Back at ground level, Yuki struggled to free herself of the bonds Marisa tied on her, with no success. The blonde demon witch has been at it for quite a while.

Mai, on the other hand, didn't even try. She just laid on the cobblestone pavement, watching her partner try in vain to break free.

"That's a magical bond, you know..." Mai told Yuki. "It can't be broken with physical strength..."

"Then how else am I going to break free?!" Yuki argued. She heated the fact that her hands are tied up in such a way that she is unable to make the necessary gestures for casting fire spells with them.

Yuki kept on trying to break the bonds, but then stopped as she noticed someone suddenly appearing right before her.

"You look like you need some help..." Louise said to Yuki and Mai.

"Where were you, Louise?" Yuki said to the demon tourist. "And how were you  _not_  hurt when that purple witch blew up the entire city?"

Louise touched her forehead. "I guess I just got lucky when you two fought her..."

Yuki narrowed her eyes. "You...got...lucky?"

Just as Louise opened her mouth to answer, she got interrupted as loud noises are heard coming from high up above Pandemonium's city skyline.

"It appears that Lady Shinki has decided to fight the Gensokyians herself..." Louise said as she turned her attention up above.

"Lady Shinki...?" Yuki and Mai both uttered in unison.

At the same time, the citizens of Pandemonium who were lucky enough to not get hurt by Marisa's city-razing Master Spark earlier emerged from the barely-holding frame of their homes, as they placed their attention on the fight taking place up high up above.

...

**Hakurei Shrine; Gensokyo**

Genji had an odd feeling.

Things have been different for the divine turtle ever since Reimu had left for Makai. But this feeling is much more than that, and it made Genji felt uneasy.

Ruukoto, who was still in the middle of setting up the tea party that Ako and gang wanted to set up (despite their absence right now), noticed the divine turtle's uneasiness.  _"Mister Genji, is something the matter?"_  The green-haired maid stopped what she was doing.

"The feeling that Reimu is about to face a great challenge in Makai..." Genji answered. "The demons of Makai were more powerful than nearly all of Gensokyo's population, and I worry that they may be too much for Reimu..."

 _"Miss Reimu is powerful. I am sure she can handle herself..."_  Ruukoto reassured.

"I agree." Kana said as she materialized sitting on the veranda. "She won't go down so easily, as Professor Okazaki and her assistant can attest to."

Almost immediately after that, Konngara materialized next to Kana. "I do wish you were right, young lady..." She said to the poltergeist. "For I am unable to enter Makai and see it for myself..."

"For now, we can only hope for the best..." Genji said.

Everyone nodded in response to the divine turtle's statement, with the mood becoming a bit intense.

The intense mood is quickly ruined, though, when a familiar white cat is seen darting through the tea tables with his master in pursuit.

"Socrates, bad kitty!" Ellen cried out as she chased her cat all over the shrine grounds.

...

**Mysterious Path; Gensokyo**

At the same time, Ako, Fey, Rey, Markle and Suza stood near the illusory boulder that disguised the portal to Makai, anxious as to what Marisa might be facing and why Mima suddenly decided to go help her...

"Seriously, why did Miss Mima have to take the Ultimate Sadistic Creature, of all people, with her?" Ako wondered out loud with a shudder.

"I was wondering about that myself..." Fey chimed in.

"Like, 'who in their  _bloody mind_  would befriend the Ultimate Sadistic Creature?'" Rey continued her twin sister's sentence.

"Maybe some explosion magic would clear up her mind?" Markle suggested.

"NO!" Fey and Rey rebuked instantly.

"It's always explosions for you, Markle..." Ako also rebuked.

Markle groaned at her suggestion getting rejected.

"But still, there must be a reason why Miss Mima suddenly decided to head off to Makai..." Ako then pointed out. "Despite her being barred from going back there since the prank fiasco..."

"Like helping Miss Marisa..." Fey suggested.

"And Miss Reimu?" Rey finished the sentence.

"Hey! Maybe we should go help them too!" Markle made another suggestion.

"And after whatever it is in there, maybe they will confess their love for each other, and have a heartfelt kiss~" Suza suddenly chimed in only to fantasize.

The other Little Witches collapsed into a pile after hearing about Suza's fantasy.

...

**High up above Makai**

As Shinki positioned herself high up above Makai, the party of Gensokyians regrouped and took off into the air after the demon goddess.

"This is it..." Mima said. "The biggest battle any of us here has ever seen..."

Shinki fired yet another massive barrage of danmaku at the party, forcing them to scatter as they dodged the barrage that went on to demolish the entire balcony of the Castle.

"Jeez, we came to Makai to settle some  _tourist_ _irresponsibility_ , and ended up havin' a battle of the ages?!" Marisa pointed out as she activated Orreries Solar System and fired danmaku at the demon goddess.

"Either way, we've got no choice!" Reimu responded to Marisa.

The party pushed on with their attacks while dodging Shinki's massive omni-directional barrage. Reimu threw Ofuda and launched the Ying-Yang Orb, Marisa fired streams of danmaku and lasers with Orreries Solar System, Mima fired spells after spells, and Yuuka fired curvy lasers.

Shinki was a large and easy target due to her non-corporeal wings making her appear larger. Although size didn't matter as the demon goddess tanked the barrage, shrugging off every shot that connects.

"Listen closely as the Devil's Recitation heralds your demise!" Shinki announced as she reinforced her already massive barrage of danmaku with lasers and magic missiles.

The increased intensity of the demon goddess's barrage made dodging more difficult for the Gensokyians, forcing them to go on the defensive.

Mima spun her scepter to deflect danmaku while Yuuka used her parasol as a shield. Marisa herself has a shield provided by Orreries Solar System, but Shinki's barrage is wearing out the multicolored orbs powering the shield and doesn't look like they'll hold much longer. Reimu doesn't have any such shields, so she had to rely on dodging the barrage at her best.

"Shinki! Can't we talk this out for a bit?" Mima made a plea as she continued spinning her scepter to deflect danmaku and dodging the lasers and magic missiles (since those can't be deflected).

Shinki didn't reply, either because her attacks are creating too much noise for her to hear anything, or she just doesn't care about reason anymore.

"Well, that was worth a shot..." Marisa shrugged.

As the battle raged on, Shinki became much more intense and brutal with her attacks, and so fixated on taking out the Gensokyians that she didn't seem to care that her attacks are laying further waste to the already partially demolished city of Pandemonium below, with everyone (including Yuki and Mai after Louise helped free them of their bonds) running to take cover.

"Every breath you draw is mercy from me!" The demon goddess declared again. "And I have given you enough!"

Raising her rod above her head, Shinki conjured even more crimson magic circles by her sides, reinforcing her already massive barrage to impossibly massive levels.

The barrage became way too much for the Gensokyians to handle, as it quickly overwhelmed their defenses. Yuuka had her parasol cut to pieces by the lasers before she gets hit by a dozen magic missiles at once and sending her flying back toward the Castle. Mima had her scepter cut in half as a laser passed through it, followed by it loping off her left arm (which thankfully isn't a big deal for a ghost like her). Marisa's Orreries Solar System goes out as the multicolored orbs were shot to shreds by the intense danmaku barrage.

Even Reimu is starting to get fatigued as she strained herself to keep up with the barrage and dodging the shots.

Eventually, fatigue took its toll on the shrine maiden trainee as she failed to dodge a danmaku in time, grazing her by the neck...

Which unfortunately for her, happened to tear off the Ofuda on the side of her neck that is suppressing Yumeko's Eternal Suffering Curse.

As soon as the Ofuda left her neck, Reimu felt herself being assaulted by the Eternal Suffering Curse once again. She screamed loudly as pain enveloped her entire body, which caused her to lose focus as her flight powers went out, sending her plummeting toward the ground.

"REIMU!" Marisa quickly noticed the shrine maiden trainee's predicament, and rushed off to her rescue.

The witch weaved through barrages of danmaku, lasers and magic missiles as she focused on getting to Reimu before she goes splat.

With Yuuka taken out of the battle and Mima left unable to do much without her scepter and left arm, Shinki turned her attention on Reimu and Marisa, focusing the impossibly massive barrage on them.

"No, Shinki! Don't you dare!" Mima yelled as she lunged toward and tackled the demon goddess.

The impossibly massive barrage came to a pause as Shinki gets distracted trying to wrestle off Mima.

Marisa continued to pursue Reimu as the latter continued to plummet while being assaulted by the Eternal Suffering Curse. Within an intense one minute, Marisa managed to catch up, and grabbed Reimu with both her hands just in time. Another second later and the shrine maiden trainee would've gone splat against the ground.

"Don't worry, Reimu! I'm gonna help ya!" Marisa said as she started looking for any spare Ofuda on Reimu's person.

There wasn't any left. Reimu must've exhausted her supply during the battle.

"Damn it!" Marisa cursed and gritted her teeth. She then raised one hand to massage her neck as she gets frustrated by the situation. "How am I gonna stop it...now..."

The witch paused as she felt the Ofuda on the side of her own neck.

As Reimu continued to suffer the effects of the Eternal Suffering Curse, Marisa began to ponder about her next action. Specifically, whether it is going to be worth it.

"Ya know what? Screw it..." Marisa said as she began to slowly remove the Ofuda on her neck.

Reimu noticed what the witch is going to do. "Marisa..." She said weakly as she tried to resist the Curse. "If...you...do...that..."

"I'm gonna start suffering the godsdamn Curse too. Yeah, I know..." Marisa answered as she continued to slowly remove the Ofuda.

"No...please don't..." Reimu protested, struggling to raise a hand to stop Marisa.

"Look, ya tiny, miserable eggplant head..." Marisa protested to Reimu's protest. "I ain't no master sorceress like Miss Mima. I'm just an ordinary magician, and there's no freakin' chance I'm gonna be able to kick that lady's overreacting ass..." She briefly let go of the Ofuda to point at Shinki who is still wrestling with Mima. "But you? You're the godsdamn Hakurei shrine maiden, even if not a fully-fledged one. You're s'posed to be doin' your job no matter what. You kicked Miss Mima's ethereal ass, and those two bitches' at the Dream World, for the gods' sake! You should be able to do this!"

"But..." Reimu kept trying to protest.

"No buts!" Marisa remained adamant.

Then with one quick motion, Marisa grabbed the Ofuda on her neck again, and tore it off.

As soon as the Ofuda left her neck, the Eternal Suffering Curse on Marisa reactivated, assaulting every inch of her body in immense pain.

The witch gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to scream as she held the Ofuda in her hand out for Reimu.

"Take...it..." Marisa struggled to speak under the same condition as Reimu. "And go...kick...some...demon...ass..."

The shrine maiden trainee looked at the witch, her friend, choosing to take her place in suffering the Curse. She wondered why Marisa think it was worth doing so.

"Don't...keep...me...waitin'..." Marisa said weakly.

Reimu hesitated for another few seconds, then delayed no further as she extended a hand out to grab Marisa's Ofuda. As soon as she had the Ofuda between her fingers, she retracted her hand, and slapped it on the side of her neck.

The effects of the Eternal Suffering Curse stopped the moment she slapped the Ofuda on. The shrine maiden trainee took a deep breath as the pain went away.

"I'll...be...right...behind...ya..." Marisa, still under the effects of the Curse, weakly told Reimu as she raised a hand to do a thumb up motion.

Reimu nodded in response. She is now determined to finish what she came to Makai for...

At the same time, Shinki managed to overpower Mima, and threw the evil spirit aside. "Don't get in my way, Mima!" Shinki said before blasting Mima with a barrage of magic missiles, sending her flying toward the Castle as she gets embedded into the wall right next to Yuuka.

Reimu then flew up to Shinki's elevation, her eyes meeting the demon goddess's despite the large distance between them.

"And now, you purple-haired rascal..." Shinki said with venom in her tone. "Now, until the moment you die..."

Reimu said nothing as she eyed Shinki with much determination.

"You shall see the end of your spirit dream..." Shinki finished her declaration.

Reimu maintained her tough stare at Shinki. But mentally, she cringed at the demon goddess's narmy one-liner.

As Shinki raised her rod in preparation for resuming her attack, so did Reimu as she summoned the Ying-Yang Orb and raised her gohei.

Then both combatants paused as an object suddenly floated into view between the two of them. The object appeared to be a bubble, with a small corked flask inside it. Both Reimu and Shinki stared at it in bewilderment.

The flask in the bubble suddenly rotated so that its corked mouth is facing Shinki. Then the cork shot right out of the flask with a pop, somehow not bursting the bubble as it flew over Shinki's shoulder.

The pop is soon followed by the flask itself exploding into a cloud of bubbly mist that enveloped the demon goddess and disorienting her.

As Shinki grunted in frustration while trying to get rid of the bubbly mist, Reimu just hovered where she is, wondering what the heck just happened.

"Sorry we were late~!" A voice called out from somewhere.

Reimu looked around to locate the source of the voice, but quickly got her answer as she noticed five small figures approaching her position.

It was Marisa's Little Witch friends: Ako, Fey, Rey, Markle and Suza.

"What are you girls doing here?!" Reimu exclaimed.

"We're trying to help Miss Mima and Miss Marisa!" Ako answered enthusiastically.

"And you~!" Suza chimed in. "So you and Miss Marisa can..."

"Not now!" Fey and Rey, in unison, interrupted Suza.

"Where are they, anyway?" Markle asked Reimu.

"Well...you girls came just in time..." Reimu answered as she shot a glance at Marisa who is still at ground level, enduring the Eternal Suffering Curse. "Marisa needs more help than anyone else do!"

The Little Witches gasped as they quickly descended toward Marisa to help her.

"Suza, get Miss Marisa out of here!" Ako told her fellow apprentice witch.

Suza nodded without hesitation (though she might have some... other intent on doing so), as she quickly went to grab Marisa and carry her out of the battlefield to safety.

The remaining Little Witches were about to go look for Mima, but then the evil spirit appeared, hovering toward them in a manner similar to a human limping from injuries. Mima is of course, still missing her left arm, though it appears to be in the process of regenerating.

"What are you rascals doing here? I thought I told you to stay put..." Mima chastised the Little Witches...or at least tried to sound like she is, due to her 'injuries'.

"Miss Mima!" The Little Witches exclaimed upon seeing her.

"You're hurt! Again!" Ako pointed out.

"Never mind that..." Mima dismissed the Little Witches' worries, along with her disappointment by the fact they just disobeyed an order. "Go  _help_  Reimu..."

The Little Witches were about to argue, but then paused in response to what their mentor just told them. "Help her...?"

"I'll be fine..." Mima told them again. "Prove to me what you rascals can do..."

The Little Witches hesitated a bit before nodding with a smile.

"We will~!" Ako answered.

With that, the apprentices went back to join Reimu high up above the city, just in time to see Shinki ridding herself of the bubbly mist trapping her.

Shinki wasn't any angrier than she was before, but she is definitely still angry as she turned her attention back on Reimu. Though it is hard to tell if she noticed the Little Witches at all.

"You girls-" Reimu said to the apprentices. "-better not get in my way..."

The Little Witches nodded in acknowledgement.

At the same moment, Shinki raised her rod up as she re-conjured the crimson magic circles that were earlier dispelled by her getting distracted and trapped in the bubbly mist.

As Shinki prepared to resume her attack, Reimu immediately noticed something about the demon goddess's rod. While the rod doesn't look quite the same, the gemstone fixed on it is identical to the one on Sariel's staff...

With the similarities noted, Reimu figured that it probably has the same weakness too...

"Keep her distracted from me while I move in!" Reimu told the Little Witches as she launched herself at high speeds toward Shinki.

"Huh?" The Little Witches were confused by the command.

"Distract her, I said!" Reimu repeated as she conjured the Ying-Yang Orb again, putting it directly in front of her as she used it as a battering ram while charging toward Shinki.

At the same time, Shinki resumed her attacks, firing off another impossibly massive barrage at Reimu.

Reimu holding the Ying-Yang Orb in front of her had the benefit of it acting as a shield as well, protecting the shrine maiden trainee on her approach to Shinki. But since the Orb is only slightly bigger than her head, it didn't completely protect her from the barrage as a few shots did make it past and grazed various parts of her body. Reimu winced with each danmaku that grazed her and drew blood, but shrugged them off as best as she could as she continued her approach to Shinki.

The Little Witches, meanwhile, were just blindly firing spells and danmaku at Shinki until they realized what Reimu was planning.

"Oh, I get it now~" Markle said before raising her staff in a gleeful manner. "Alright, then... EXPLOSION!"

An explosion erupted right next to Shinki's head, throwing off the demon goddess's focus...for only a single second. But it did make her notice the Little Witches.

"You will pay for this, child!" In retaliation to the surprise attack, Shinki redirected four of the crimson magic circles to fire at each of the Little Witches (the remaining circles are still aimed at Reimu).

"We got her attention! Now we have to kee- _WHOA!"_  Ako announced before quickly veering away from a laser beam directed at her. She managed to dodge it, but it cut her witch hat in half.

The Little Witches' distraction worked, if not completely. With the density of the barrage directed at her reduced, Reimu is able to focus on her approach to Shinki as the Ying-Yang Orb acted as a shield against the danmaku that are still directed at her. She held her gohei over the Ofuda on her neck in the event of a danmaku getting past the Ying-Yang Orb.

At one point, Reimu had to dodge a few magic missiles that flew around the Ying-Yang Orb, briefly breaking her trajectory. But the shrine maiden trainee is able to regain trajectory and continue with her approach.

Meanwhile, the Little Witches tried their best to distract Shinki by casting defensive spells on themselves and taking potshots at her. But with their danmaku dodging skills nowhere close to Reimu's or Marisa's, they were obviously having trouble and it is only a matter of time before they get taken out of the battle and the distraction stops working.

Reimu understood that. So she increased her speed ever so slightly as she aimed for Shinki's rod.

Shinki kept her barrage split between the Little Witches and Reimu for another full minute before she noticed Reimu approaching her at high speeds...and what the shrine maiden trainee is planning.

"You insolent...!" Both furious and frantic, the demon goddess immediately redirected  _all_  of her crimson magic circles to focus fire on Reimu.

By then it was too late. Reimu with the Ying-Yang Orb held in front of her, used as a battering ram quickly impacted the gemstone on Shinki's rod after that.

"No!" Shinki screamed as she helplessly watched her rod starting to fall apart under stress from the Ying-Yang Orb and its holy energy.

"Your Excellency!" The shrine maiden trainee took the time to deliver a one-liner. "Welcome to Gensokyo!"

Immediately after that, the gemstone on rod shattered, having lost the battle against Reimu and the Ying-Yang Orb.

A massive explosion of crimson then erupted, enveloping all of Pandemonium, and all of Makai in it...

...

**Main street of Pandemonium**

Only once the battle up above has ended and everything became silent did the citizens of Pandemonium dare to emerge from whatever buildings that have not been demolished. They emerged to see that whatever buildings that have been spared by Marisa's Master Spark ended up getting demolished by Shinki's barrage anyway.

"To be bluntly honest," Yuki commented as she looked on. "Lady Shinki really overdid things this time..."

"That's what I thought as well..." Mai chimed in. "I wonder how is Miss Yumeko and Young Mistress Alice doing...?"

"So much for Makai's tourism industry..." Louise said awkwardly, scratching her head at the meantime.

A loud cracking sound is suddenly heard, followed by the building right behind Louise immediately toppling over, burying the demon tourist right under it.

Yuki and Mai just stood where they are.

"Somehow, I don't feel like doing anything anymore..." Yuki remarked.

"Agreed..." Mai responded.

* * *

And  _that_ , everyone, is the very last battle in  _Spirit Dream_.

Are you guys surprised that the Little Witches ended up being important here despite first appearing in the  _SoEW_  arc as unnamed random girls and only as extras ala Nitori's Kappa Mob from  _Wild and Horned Hermit_ in subsequent chapters? Well, to be honest, I have no idea why that happened. I initially introduced them as nameless extras, but ended up getting so attached to them that I eventually started to give them names and personalities to identify them from any nameless people, culminating to them becoming Chekhov's Army for the final battle her. OC designing sure works in a strange way, whether they're Mary Sues or not...

Also, I originally planned for only Yuuka to be knocked out in the battle, but realized that it's not dramatic enough for a final battle (since this version of Yuuka is a pacifist that abhors violence), so I have Mima incapacitated too, and did that thing where Marisa takes Reimu's place in enduring the Eternal Suffering Curse. All this to make the knockout blow on Shinki seem more epic.

Fun fact: Shinki using a magical rod is inspired by a piece of fanart I saw a long time ago. But, said rod sharing the same Achilles' Heel as Sariel's staff from back at the  _HRtP_  arc is thought up at the last minute because I quickly realized that this version of Shinki is  _way overpowered_  to the point that having her be defeated by simply being shot a thousand times will make no sense at all.

Next up, we have...just an epilogue where Reimu have tea with everyone that has ever appeared in this story, not just the  _Mystic Square_  crew.

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Afterword ends here._


	76. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of the story. The remaining "chapters" will just be character profiles plus an Easter Egg...

**Hakurei Shrine**

"So let me get this straight..." Reimu said with skepticism. "You're still doing that western tea party you and your friends planned a week ago?"

"Ee-yup!" Marisa gave a straightforward answer.

"The one you set up just before we went to deal with the Mystic Square Incident?" Reimu continued asking, still with skepticism. "Right here on the grounds of my shrine?"

"Ee-yup!" Marisa gave the exact same answer.

Reimu then turned her attention on the shrine's grounds, eyes wide in disbelief, before turning back to Marisa.

"And you invited  _everyone_  we've ever met in the past months over?!" Reimu loudly added.

"Ee-yup!" Marisa, again, gave the exact same answer.

Reimu took another look at the shrine grounds...

When the shrine maiden trainee said "everyone", she meant it literally. Just about everyone she has ever fought in the past months are here. Konngara and Sariel's underlings, Mima's non-witch conspirators, everyone Yumemi tried to kidnap, the random individuals met on the way to Yuuka's mansion...even the residents of Makai, whom they've only known for a week.

Konngara and Sariel stood on the roof of the Shrine's main building, watching over the party taking place on the grounds with Singyoku, Yuugen-Magan, Kikuri and Elis hovering right behind them. Rika is demonstrating a palm-sized tank that she is controlling with a similarly-sized device to Meira and Noroiko. Ellen is holding Socrates out for Kotohime to pet, while Kana pranks Rikako by taking away the scientist's glasses with telekinesis. Matenshi, Orange and Kurumi are doing some weird poses together while Elly and Yuuka watched. Mugetsu and Gengetsu, meanwhile, just sat around a table at a corner, complaining about "getting punished by the Baku for going off the rails". Ruukoto, acting as a tour guide, is telling Sara, Louise (whose left arm is in a cast), Yuki and Mai something. And just about all of Mima's pupils are here too, including the Little Witches and the (former) jealous witch who tried to kill Marisa back at Yuuka's mansion. Genji said he didn't like it being so noisy, and so stayed inside the shrine. Only Mima seems to be missing, though, and Yumemi and Chiyuri couldn't possibly be invited over due to them living in another world.

Reimu then sighed and face-palmed. "I thought the Eternal Suffering Curse would've had shocked some common senses into you..."

Marisa flipped her face-covering bangs proudly. "Ya can't be held back by common sense in Gensokyo. Ain't that right?"

Reimu sighed again.

It has been a week since the Mystic Square Incident when Makai's unsanctioned tourism agency led to an influx of Makaiese delinquents wrecking havoc all over Gensokyo. It took Reimu and Marisa, and eventually Mima and Yuuka's combined effort to get through Makai's defenses to reach Shinki, where everyone but Reimu were decimated. Reimu then, with assistance from the Little Witches, managed to turn the tides and took out Shinki's rod and thus her source of power. After that, Shinki conceded, and listened to Mima's demand of shutting down the tourism agency and calling back all of Makai's citizens, thus putting the Incident to a closure.

The most unpleasant part of the Incident is that Reimu and Marisa both had to endure the Eternal Suffering Curse  _again_  while Mima worked her magic into getting rid of the Curse permanently, which took an entire  _day_. It apparently had not crossed Mima's mind to use a spell to knock them out first, something that Marisa herself angrily pointed out afterwards.

"Whatever. I'm going inside to make tea..." Reimu said as she turned around. "Make sure nobody does anything stupid..."

With that, the shrine maiden trainee went inside the shrine, ignoring the party going on outside as she went to do her own things.

Marisa rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Sheesh, that conservative eggplant-headed shorty..."

"Who? Reimu?"

Marisa raised her arms. "Yeah. Who else could I be talkin' 'bou..."

The witch found that voice somewhat familiar. She did a double-take, and looked around for its owner...

Sure enough the red clad outsider who the voice belonged to is standing right in front. As is her blond-haired assistant. They are both wearing the same kind of rocket backpack they wore back then.

"What are you guys doin' here?!" Marisa exclaimed in surprise.

Yumemi declined to answer, instead just made a smile that looked like she doesn't want to talk about whatever she had in mind.

"Let's just say Professor Okazaki got into some disagreement with the establishment..." Chiyuri answered for the professor. "A  _really_  big disagreement..."

Marisa immediately noticed the fact that Yumemi's left hand seems to be wrapped in bandages. Whatever the "disagreement" may be, the witch figured it might not be her cup of tea, and chose not to find out.

"In any case..." Yumemi then spoke up. "We're going to need a place to crash, and Gensokyo is the only one I could think of."

"Uh...sure, make yourself at home." Marisa told the outsiders. "Just be careful, okay? Some people here literally eats other people..."

It was then that Reimu emerged from the shrine, carrying a tray of filled teacups and a teapot with her. The shrine maiden trainee quickly noticed Yumemi and Chiyuri.

"Oh? I didn't expect to see you two again months after you tried to kidnap me..." Reimu greeted the two outsiders. "But anyway, thanks for giving me Ruukoto. She was very helpful!" She added as she laid the tray on the veranda, and grabbed up two teacups that she then passed to the outsiders. "Here, have some tea!"

"Thanks." Chiyuri said as she accepted a teacup from Reimu.

"So, what else happened when we were away?" Yumemi asked as she took a sip from her tea (she wished it was strawberry flavored).

"A lot..." Reimu answered. "Like that time when a pair of sisters from the dream world tried to reshape Gensokyo in their image simply because they were bored..."

"And a week ago, we had to stop a freakin' invasion from the demon world!" Marisa chimed in. "Only that it wasn't really an invasion! It was just a half-assed  _tourism agency_  whose founder, a freakin'  _demon goddess_  had no experience in running! The 'invaders' were literally just jackass tourists..." The witch stopped herself upon realizing that she is going off-tangent. "Basically, we had to kick some idiot's ass and clean up their freakin' mess."

"You people had it easy, though..." Chiyuri said. "A single stupid decision was all it took to bring down the entire world's economy back where we came from."

Reimu and Marisa both blinked.

"It was that serious?" Marisa wondered out loud.

"That's a story for another time." Yumemi said before finishing the rest of her tea in one gulp. "We'll be seeing you girls again in the future, I guess..." She added as she returned the teacup to Reimu. "Tell Ruukoto I said hi."

With that, the professor activated her rocket backpack again, and took off.

"Hey, professor, wait for me!" Chiyuri called out as she activated her rocket backpack too. "And thanks for the tea, Reimu." The assistant said before she took off after the professor.

Marisa then noted the fact that the outsiders' rocket backpack were near silent, which probably explain why she didn't hear their showing up earlier.

"They took one of my teacups..." Reimu then complained.

Not too long after Chiyuri and Yumemi left, more figures are seen approaching the Hakurei Shrine from a different direction in the sky.

On closer inspection, it was Mima dragging Shinki along by her hand, with Yumeko and Alice following right behind.

The arrival of the demon goddess caused everyone to stop what they are doing and go silent as they watched.

"Alright, Shinki..." Mima told the demon goddess as the two landed in the middle of the shrine grounds. "Apologize to Reimu and Marisa, like you promised to me earlier!"

Rather than objecting to the demand as Reimu and Marisa expected her to (from what they know about her back at their fight), Shinki actually obliged, bowing to the shrine maiden trainee and the witch in an apologetic way.

"I'm sorry that I went overboard last week, girls." Shinki apologized.

Reimu and Marisa both recoiled in surprise, not sure what to make of this.

"You tried to kill us just because we made your adopted daughter cry..." Reimu skeptically pointed out.

"...And now ya think we're gonna just accept your apology like that?" Marisa added. "No. Freakin'. Way!"

Shinki turned her head slightly to Mima. "I told you they won't forgive me so easily for it!" She whispered to the evil spirit.

"It's your fault, I'm not going to help you here." Mima rebuked bluntly. "You're lucky my punishment for you only goes as far as forcing you to do this."

Yumeko seemed to roll her eyes. Somehow the demon maid agrees that her mistress is at fault.

Alice then stepped forward and knelt beside her adoptive mother. "It's also my fault back then, so please accept my apology as well..."

Reimu and Marisa recoiled again, this time at how Alice is acting like a mature lady as opposed to the spoiled brat she was a week ago.

"Am I hearin' and seein' this right?" Marisa asked. She totally didn't see this coming.

"The biggest spoiled brat we have ever met, acting sensibly and maturely?" Reimu answered with a shrug. "You tell me..."

Alice, still in a kneeling position, raised her head to look at the two. "Perhaps this looks and sounds confusing to you, but I don't actually look like this..." The little puppeteer explained. "The truth is, I was doing a magic experiment a while ago, when the spell backfired and turned me both physically and mentally into the brat you saw me as last week..."

Reimu just stood there, confused.

"Well, that s'plains a lot..." Marisa remarked.

Alice lowered her head again. "In any case, my sincerest apologies for turning you into puppets." She then said.

Shinki bowed a bit lower. "My sincerest apology for going overboard then!" She added immediately.

Reimu and Marisa both narrowed their eyes.

"Fine. Apology accepted..." Reimu said with a dismissive handwave. "It's not like I keep grudges for very long, anyway..."

"Thank you!" Both Shinki and Alice responded at once.

Yumeko suddenly stepped forward. "However, the fact that you two remain banned from ever entering Makai still stands..." She informed Reimu and Marisa.

"Not surprising..." Reimu remarked. "It  _was_  because of us that most of the city ended up as rubble."

"And the citizens started to dislike me for worsening the damage in our battle..." Shinki, still bowing apologetically, added.

"Well, that settles everything." Mima said with a click of her fingers. "So why don't we all just put that aside for now, and have a proper tea party here?"

Before anyone can make any responses, Socrates the cat suddenly darted past Shinki and Alice, then past Reimu and Marisa as he jumped onto the donation box.

"Socrates! Don't run!" Ellen cried out as she chased her cat, knocking over Reimu and Marisa in the process without noticing them. The empty-headed girl is holding a ridiculous-looking cat collar in her hands. "It's just a gift from Hannah! Why can't you be a good kitty for once?"

Socrates hissed as though to say he doesn't want to wear that ridiculous collar, before jumping off the donation box and running around the shrine. Ellen continued to chase him around the place.

Reimu sat up from the ground, one hand massaging the back of her head. "Ouch. This is just like when we first met her..." The shrine maiden trainee pointed out.

"Yep, this is deja vu..." Marisa agreed with Reimu.

Both girls then noticed a vial that felled out of Marisa's hat when she was knocked over. Like the one that changed Marisa from a redhead to a blonde back then, it also cracked and has begun to glow brightly, which everyone noticed immediately.

It didn't take a genius to know what is about to happen, and everyone reacted like someone facing imminent danger would (save Ellen who is still chasing Socrates). Yumeko grabbed Shinki's and Alice's hands and all three were evacuated via teleportation. Sara, Louise, Yuki and Mai turned tail and quickly went down the shrine steps. Mugetsu and Gengetsu opened a portal back to the Dream World and retreated through it. Yuuka opened her parasol (which was repaired in the week since it was shredded by Shinki's attacks) and dragged Elly, Kurumi, Orange and Matenshi behind it. Kana, Rikako and Kotohime quickly took to the air. Rika and Noroiko each knocked a chair over and hid behind them as cover. The Little Witches did the same with a table, which Mima even went behind quickly. Even Sariel, Konngara and their minions took several steps back on the shrine's roof.

"Deja vu, alright..." Marisa uttered right before the bright flash of the vial reached its peak.

And then the vial exploded...

Once the dust cleared up, everyone still in the shrine grounds came out of their cover to see the result of the explosion.

Marisa is complete fine, messy hair and face full of ash aside.

"Aw, man. I thought it's gonna turn me back into a ginger..." The witch complained as she pulled a strand of hair into view and see it is still blond. "Hey, Reimu, ya alri-" She turned to ask Reimu, but paused as she noticed something peculiar.

Reimu is also relatively fine. "I'm alright." Though the shrine maiden trainee quickly noticed everyone giving her an odd look. "Wh=what? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Nobody said anything. Though Fey and Rey both pointed one of their hands at their hair, and their other hands at Reimu.

Reimu seems to get the message. "My hair, what abou-" She pulled one of her hair tubes into view to inspect it...

...To find that her hair is now brown instead of purple.

Reimu stared at her now-brown strand of hair with her eyes as wide as they possibly could.

"Uh...let's just say...whoops..." Marisa said sheepishly, as she took off her witch hat to scratch her head. "On the bright side, at least you don't look like an eggplant anymo-"

Marisa was interrupted by Reimu furiously pouncing onto her and tackling her down.

"Damn you, Marisa! I want my purple hair back!" Reimu screamed as she furiously attacked Marisa, delivering a series of punches and slaps to the witch.

"I'm sorry! Ow! I'm so sorry! Ow ow! I said I'm sorry! Ow ow ow! Have mercy, please!" Marisa tried in vain to convince Reimu to forgive her.

As the shrine maiden trainee and the witch engaged each other in a physical fight, Genji emerged from the shrine upon hearing Reimu's furious yell, and asked everyone what was going on.

Meanwhile, on the roof of the shrine, Konngara, Sariel and their entourages stood by, ignoring the fight going on at ground level as they watched the magnificent landscape of Gensokyo from their vantage point...

"All living beings have their own dreams, and each of those dreams differ from one another..." Konngara mused.

"But all those dreams have one thing in common..." Sariel resumed the musing. "To show the dreamers of what life has to offer to them..."

...

> _Magic..._
> 
> _The element of the supernatural..._
> 
> _Some says its a product of a sentient mind's dreams..._
> 
> _Others say its just unexplained science..._
> 
> _But what difference does it make..._
> 
> _...In this land called Gensokyo?_
> 
> _A land sealed off from the general world..._
> 
> _A land built on nostalgia..._
> 
> _Thus ends one of many chapters..._
> 
> _...Of a gifted individual's story..._
> 
> _...In this land of magic..._
> 
> _Her story ends for now..._
> 
> _But the young maiden's chronicles continues..._

**Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream**

**END**

* * *

The end.

*Celebrates like it's the Fourth of July* Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh! Finally! I have reached the end of  _Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream_! And with that, the conclusion to the remake of the PC-98 games!

A lot has happened since I started writing this story in 2016. Many of these events have caused unwanted schedule slips that I have no way of getting around, but boy am I glad to have finally finished this.

Now with the story itself having been concluded, I plan on making the next few "chapters" be character profiles for everyone who have appeared in this story, where some information not shown nor told in the story itself will be revealed.

With that done... See you again soon, everyone!

"And that, as they say, is that..."

_Story ends here..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of the story. The remaining "chapters" will just be character profiles plus an Easter Egg...


	77. Character profiles part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character profiles of the HRtP cast, including Reimu and Genji.

**Character profiles - part 1**

**Hakurei Reimu - Young Maiden of Paradise**

Birthday: 15th of August, 2100

Species: Empowered Human

Skills and Abilities: Powers of the Hakurei Clan.

Likes: Eating sweets and candies.

Dislikes: People touching her ribbon; being called fat.

A young shrine maiden trainee of the Hakurei clan, Hakurei Reimu began training at a very young age in hopes of taking up the mantle that all members of her family have taken up in the past.

Reimu was orphaned. She never even knew what her mother looked like, and had always wished she could find that out for herself.

Likes to eat sweets and candies a lot, and even had dreams where she did nothing but eat sweets. Also liked her ribbon so much that she'd go into a furious rage if anything were to happen to it.

...

**Genji - Divine Aide of the Hakurei Clan**

Birthday: unknown

Species: Divine Spirit

Skills and Abilities: Flight

Likes: Seeing a Hakurei shrine maiden achieving something significant.

Dislike: Those who bring harm to the Hakurei clan.

Having acted as both mentor and servant to the Hakurei Clan for centuries, Genji is a divine spirit devoted to his job in making sure the latest Hakurei shrine maiden turned out well.

...

**Singyoku - Ancient Formless Gatekeeper**

Birthday: unknown

Species: unknown

Skills and Abilities: Super toughness

Likes: N/A

Dislikes: N/A

Not much is known about Singyoku, other than that it(?) served as a guardian and servant to Konngara.

...

**Yuugen-Magan - Watchful Eyes of Eternal Power**

Birthday: unknown

Species: Living Energy

Skills and Abilities: Shooting electricity via eye-shaped disks.

Likes: N/A

Dislikes: N/A

Much like Singyoku, not much is known about Yuugen-Magan. If she does know her own past, she has not told anyone about it yet...

...

**Mima - Eternally Vengeful Evil Spirit/ Reincarnated Dark Sorceress**

Birthday: 4th of April, 2014 (as a human)

Species: Evil Spirit (formerly human)

Skills and Abilities: Dark sorcery

Likes: Acting intimidating (post-therapy).

Dislikes: Being reminded of her past.

Mima is an Evil Spirit who goes a long way back with the Hakurei Clan.

She was originally a human who practiced the dark arts of sorcery. But her practices eventually caused her to run afoul of the Hakurei shrine maidens, and soon lost her life to one. Though the exact circumstances as to her death is not known, other than that Reimu's mother is implied to be related to it.

After her first defeat by Reimu, Mima went to seek out therapy which eventually cured her of her extreme depression. However, the therapy did not wipe out her intention to wipe out humanity, as she soon went back to planning it. In the intertwining weeks, she picked up some village girls who ran away from the village for a variety of personal issues, and taught them magic so they can essentially be her underlings. Although she did not expect her star pupil, Marisa, to betray her and go help Reimu instead...

After getting defeated by Reimu again and sealed off for her troubles this time, Mima spent the time during her imprisonment thinking that she's probably not cut out for world domination or anything similar, and turned over a new leaf. Upon being unsealed by Marisa and the Little Witches, Mima decided to go through with her change of heart. Although she still consider herself to be an evil spirit, she is not exactly 'evil' anymore.

It turns out she goes a long way back with both Yuuka and Shinki as well. Though what happened between her and the two of them, she declared them to be old shames and refused to discuss about either.

...

**Elis - Apprentice Devil of Innocence**

Birthday: unknown

Species: Demon

Skills and Abilities: Magic, transformation into a bat and back.

Likes: N/A

Dislikes: Being humiliated.

Despite working for a (once) powerful divine being, Elis is actually as mentally innocent as her title would suggest. Though Konngara apparently doesn't mind this aspect of her personality.

...

**Konngara - The Astral Knight**

Birthday: unknown

Species: Divine being

Skills and Abilities: Ancient Divine Powers.

Likes: N/A

Dislikes: N/A

Back in her prime, Konngara was a powerful divine being that few could stand up to. Even as age caught up with her, she is still quite a powerful being, albeit having more challenge fending off more powerful opponents.

Apparently, she was contacted by Reimu's mother a long time ago to help make sure Reimu has what it takes to be a shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine. But nothing is known about it beyond that.

...

**Sariel - Incarnation of Death**

Birthday: unknown

Species: Fallen Angel

Skills and Abilities: Dark Sorcery

Likes: N/A

Dislikes: N/A

As a Fallen Angel whose title is "Incarnation of Death, Sariel is definitely no pushover regardless of how much she is holding back. She is as powerful as her title makes her to be dangerous.

Not to be confused with the other Sariel from a myth from the far west, though she doesn't mind the comparison, and will simply correct anyone who does make it.


	78. Character profiles part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character profiles for the SoEW cast, plus the Little Witch Mob.

**Character profile - part 2**

**Takumi Rika - Anachronistic Engineer**

Birthday: 7th of October, 2098

Species: Mundane Human

Skills and Abilities: Basic engineering knowledge and capabilities.

Likes: Building machines.

Dislikes: Seeing her builds getting trashed (both metaphorically and literally).

Takumi Rika is an engineering prodigy who had successfully built fully functional motorized vehicles, albeit via a series of trial and error. However, her smarts was not recognized by the close-minded inhabitants of the village, and she was shunned as a result. Despite that, she wasn't dissuaded, and kept working on her interests.

One day, as Rika was minding her own business, she found herself face-to-face with Mima who offered to grant her wish in exchange for a "little favor". Rika accepted the request, fully unaware of what Mima's true intention at that time was...

...

**Noroiko - The Cursed Child**

Birthday: unknown

Species: Youkai

Skills and Abilities: Using curse-imbued danmaku.

Likes: N/A

Dislikes: N/A

Just a random Youkai with powers over curses who got roped into Mima's scheme simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

...

**Yamatou Meira - Ronin of Mysteries**

Birthday: 21st of May, 2091

Species: Empowered Human

Skills and Abilities: Channeling magic aura to empower her swordsmanship.

Likes: Having a quiet afternoon tea.

Dislikes: Getting ignored.

Yamatou Meira is a capable swordswoman with the ability to channel magic aura to empower herself. She had always wanted to claim the power of the Hakurei Clan, unaware that she is never going to be able to wield it due to being not of Hakurei descent.

...

**Marisa Genevieve Kirisame - Apprentice Witch of Stars**

Birthday: 4th of July, 2101

Species: Empowered Human

Skills and Abilities: Magic

Likes: Stargazing, experimenting with magic, "borrowing" things.

Dislikes: Being called "Genevieve".

Marisa was originally a simple girl who got interested in magic. One day, she got into a heated argument with her father about magic, and then ran away from home to go to Mima who has been secretly teaching her magic for quite a while.

Marisa was initially fully supportive of Mima's plans to wipe out humanity, just to spite her magic-hating father. But some speech from Reimu convinced her to reconsider the whole thing, and after switching sides to Reimu to defeat Mima, she decided to head back home and apologize to her father, who apologized to her as well for being so rude.

Despite having a Yamato surname, Marisa does not look, or act like a Yamato person at all. Rather, she speaks and acts like someone from another culture altogether, if her definitely-western given name has not clued others in at first. It would also appear that Marisa doesn't understand Yamato at all, and would've been unable to communicate with anyone were it not for translation spells.

Was a natural redhead, but turned blonde following a potion accident. Has been trying to turn herself back into a redhead, with no success.

Hates being called Genevieve, as she thinks it is an embarrassing name.

...

**Ako, Fey, Rey, Markle and Suza - The Little Witch Mob**

A group of Mima's pupils that liked to tag along with Marisa. Often got themselves into a variety of troubles.

Ako: A brown-haired Yamato witch with a short ponytail. Known as the klutz among Mima's pupils.

Fey and Rey: Orange-haired identical twins of western heritage. Likes to play pranks with magic potions.

Markle: A dark-haired western witch who loves explosions a bit too much...

Suza: A violet-haired witch who fully supports the idea of two girls kissing each other. Totally ships Reimu with Marisa, or "ReiMari" as she calls the pairing. Only one of the Little Witches capable of unassisted flight, which she uses so much that her feet basically never touches the ground.

...

[Author's note: Yeah, I admit that the Little Witch Mob are totally based on the main cast of  _Little Witch Academia_. Ako is obviously based on Kagari Atsuko. Fey and Rey have Amanda's appearance, and Sucy's penchants for potions. Suza is basically Sucy with Lotte's personality. In fact, the jealous witch that attacked Marisa at the  _Lotus Land Story_  arc is pictured by me to resemble Diana. The only exception here is Markle who's based on  _KonoSuba_ 's Megumin instead.]

**Author's Note:**

> Check out the official Young Maiden's Chronicles Tumblr for news, special updates, and potential supplementary materials on the YMC franchise here:  
> https://youngmaidenschronicles.tumblr.com


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